XNinja
by Hardcore74Leo
Summary: Summary: Ninjas are strange enough as it is, what with bloodlines and all. What if some ninjas had something more; that even a fellow clan member won't have? Follow Naruto as he finds out. AU, Pairing undecided. Rated for language
1. Chapter 1

X-Ninja

A/N: This is just an idea for a story I had. Really it's my first attempt at writing so I'm hoping for positive results. Please don't flame me as that will only discourage me to quit writing; I will accept legitimate constructive criticism. Well I hope you read and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other influence to my story. The only thing I own is my idea and this story in itself.

Summary: Ninjas are strange enough as it is, what with bloodlines and all. What if some ninjas had something more; that even a fellow clan member won't have? Follow Naruto as he finds out.

A five year old boy ran through an alley. Dirty, blonde hair framed whiskered cheeks and blue eyes that contained fear. Torn clothes revealed wounds that were healing shut as he ran. The boy went to round a corner when a kunai rocketed into his knee causing him to crumble and crash into a wall. Tears started pouring down his cheeks from pain and fear as he saw three men walking towards him. "Please, just leave me alone. I didn't do anything to you."

The one in the middle laughed at him. "Tonight you atone for all the sins you have committed, demon." The three of them unsheathed katanas and stood around the boy trapping him. "With the hokage busy with the delegation from Kumo, we have all the time to make it as slow and painful for you." They started to walk closer when a figure landed in between them and the boy. "Remove yourself so that we can eliminate this taint from the village." The person in front of them chuckled and they heard the sound of the person inhaling and saw a ring of orange by the persons head. "What is so funny?" The leader asked.

"You bub, I don't know what this kid did to you guys but I won't let you lay a finger on him." The boy's heart started pounding. Someone he had never seen before was protecting him. They all heard the sound of metal being drawn from the man and the men all tensed. "Now you guys can walk away now; or I can painfully remove limbs and gut you. Your decision." His answer was the three men charging him. The leader was shocked when the blade he sunk into the stranger's chest made a sound like hitting metal. His confusion quickly vanished when a trio of blades from the man carved his head into three separate pieces. The man on the left swung his katana at the mystery man's head only to have it caught between two blades he was holding. The stranger growled and twisted them sharply snapping the trapped sword. He then lunged forward and sunk three blades into the person's chest and ripped them upwards shredding him into ribbons. He turned around to the last person to see him shaking. "Not so tough when fighting an opponent who can fight back are you bub?" The man dropped the sword and turned to run only to have his abdomen erupt into pain. He looked down to see six blades sticking out of his stomach.

"Why are you protecting this demon?"

"He aint no demon. Those of you trying to harm the little squirt are the demons." That was the last thing the man heard before the blades carved him into different pieces. The man turned and started walking towards the boy. The blonde gasped as a sliver of moonlight showed three metal blades sliding into the skin of the man's hands and disappearing. He stopped in front of the boy and kneeled down extending his hand out to him. "Come on squirt, let's go see the hokage." The boy relaxed at the fact that this stranger knew the old man. He took the man's hand and was lifted onto his shoulders. He walked out of the alley ignoring the four shadows that entered from the roof. They quickly walked through the streets towards the hokage tower. Naruto observed the man's features when they got into more light. The man had shaggy black hair and his face was very rugged. In the man's mouth there was a strange object that looked like a giant version of one of those cigarette things he had seen Asuma-san smoking. They quickly arrived at the Hokage's building and the man walked straight up the stairs and into the man's office ignoring the secretary who tried to stop him. He shut the door and placed the boy on the ground.

The boy quickly ran towards the wizened leader and hopped on the desk jumping up and down. "Hey old man! This guy here did these really fancy tricks and saved me from three bad men! It was really cool and it happened so fast! He is probably some super ninja huh? I wanna be just like him!" The hokage and the man just chuckled at this.

"I am just happy you are safe Naruto." He set the boy on the ground. "Why don't you go play with Keiko outside while I talk to your new friend?" Naruto smiled and ran out the door to see the secretary. When the door closed the smiles faded and instead of a kind old man in his place was a veteran shinobi and protective grandfather. "Tell me exactly what happened." The man sat across from him and kicked his feet up onto the desk and leaned back.

"I was going around the city keepin' an eye on things when I picked up the scent of blood. Deciding to investigate, I quickly headed in the direction of it. As I got closer I heard one guy talking to something and it wasn't a good talk either. So I got up onto the roof above the alleyway and looked to see what was going on. I saw three people standing around the squirt with katanas drawn. So I did the only thing I could; I got in between them and gave them the chance to leave. They charged me so I dispatched them." The hokage nodded his head. "Might I add hokage; if that is the abilities of three elite jounin; I would be a little tougher on the ninja standards. Make the academy tougher because honestly; those guys were pussies." The hokage frowned.

"They were jounin?" The man nodded.

"They held the composure of one and had the vest and gear. They weren't green horns either; they have been ones for a while." The old man shook his head.

"That's no good. I'll see what can be done; I can't have ninja dying because they aren't properly prepared." The man nodded. "Thank you for saving Naruto; you know he is like a grandson to me."

The man shook it off. "You told me to keep an eye out for him if I was around the city so I did. Followed your orders sir. Plus the kid just has something about him I don't know what it is."

"You can go for now; I'm going to call for you tomorrow along with a couple others to discuss something of importance." The man nodded and stood up walking towards the door. He was about to leave when the hokage stopped him. "Again, I have to say thank you for saving Naruto Kuzuri." The man just grunted and walked out as a blond blur ran past him into the room.

-(The Next Day)-

The next morning the man named Kuzuri stood in front of the hokage with four other people; two males and two females. "Now I have called all of you here today to discuss something of vital importance to our village." They all nodded their heads. "Everyone is this room has certain abilities that are not classified as a bloodline or ninja trait."

"We all know this old man. We need to know why you called us." Kuzuri said. The female to his left smacked him in the back of the head.

"Show some respect Kuzuri. If it wasn't for Hiruzen you would still be wandering around snow country." She had long red hair and a stunning body. She stood at the same height as Kuzuri.

"Calm down red; I'm just a little tired from patrol last night and want to take a nap."

"Jingure, Kuzuri; please don't bicker. It isn't becoming of you two, well Kuzuri it is, not you Jingure." The man next to the now identified Jingure said. He had a very large build and was extremely muscular, but he stood hunched over with his knuckles resting on the ground. The very odd thing about him was that he was covered from head to toe in blue fur.

"Shishi is right; I was going to explain before Kuzuri interrupted me." Said man just grunted and crossed his arms. "Now, I'm sure that you must realize that we are not the only ones with these abilities." They nodded their heads. Hiruzen pulled out a stack of folders and placed them on the desk. "These are profiles on everyone in this village with strange abilities." Jingure walked up to the desk and started looking through them all. "A majority of these are just children." Hiruzen nodded his head. "Yes, and now for why I called you all here. I thought about the information that you told me yesterday Kuzuri about the ninja standards. And to fix that I am introducing a new academy for all who wish to become ninjas. The construction of it will be finished in two years. I will be increasing the criteria and requirements for graduation and you five will be some of the included instructors." The cigar in Kuzuri's mouth fell out and landed on the floor. It lay there for a couple seconds before it started to float and eventually went back into his mouth and his jaw closed. He brought his hand up and picked it out.

"Hell no am I teaching a bunch of brats' old man." He snapped. Jingure smacked him in the back of the head again.

"You will because I said so." The man shut his mouth. "Now the first year class that is in the academy now will continue through the academy. One more class will enroll, but none will follow in the old academy. They will continue through the old academy and when they graduate it will be burnt down. I plan on when the new academy opens up; there will be a massive registration of first years. So they will be divided into separate classes. That's where you being the instructors comes into play. We will be separating those without potential powers from those who will develop them, and you guys will be teaching that class up until they graduate. And it will go like that throughout every class and so on." Kuzuri just grunted.

"From the stack on your desk there are a lot more than just thirty kids who have this. What about when the schedule is worked to the point where we can only teach five classes?"

"I only said that you five would be included as instructors. I plan on having jounins teach the classes as well. You five will be considered the headmasters. I will get others to help teach the other classes. Mainly I want you guys to be there for when these powers make themselves known." They nodded their heads at this.

"So do we know what specifically we will be teaching?" The other man asked. He had dark skin and stood at the same height as Kuzuri and his head was shaved. The most distinguishing feature about him was the large 'M' tattoo over his right eye. The hokage leaned back and put his hands together.

"Well Bishoppu, I was planning on sending a dossier to your personal residences informing you of such positions. I won't know for sure what each one of you will be doing until later this week. I first have to meet with the council in order to tell them of these changes first."

"What if they disagree with these changes? We all know that how soft the academy is now is because of the council in the first place." The final person asked. She appeared to be the youngest of the three people. She was shorter than the rest with long brown hair.

"That was in the wake of Minato's sacrifice to seal the Kyuubi. I was distraught over the loss of him and let the council do what they wanted and I saw no need to change it as I didn't see the changes as detrimental to the ninja forces. But as Kuzuri here pointed out to me the standards need to change. And as hokage and leader over the ninja forces I can make any changes to how the ninja are trained without the council having any say in it. Rest assured Shadoukyatto, they will get changed." The five people nodded their heads at this. "Now, Shishi, I need you to go get Foji and have him come here as soon as possible. He will be the one to create the blueprints and schematics that I will present to the council for the new academy." The large furred man nodded his head and performed a seal. In his place stood a man the same size with no fur but instead short brown hair.

"I'll go get him quickly." He rolled across the floor and leaped out of an open window running off across the rooftops.

"Anything else hokage?" Kuzuri asked.

"Nothing that I can think of. If anything comes up I will call for you." The four remaining people nodded their heads. "Don't forget, I will be sending you a dossier detailing your jobs; it's up to you to come up with what the lesson plans will be. You can go now." With that the four people walked towards the door. "Actually Kuzuri, I need you to stay here." The man just grunted and sat back down in front of the desk. Everyone else left and the hokage activated a seal making the room soundproof. "I need to talk to you about what happened last night."

"What about it? I told you everything that happened. I don't know what else I could contribute to my report." The man gruffly replied.

"Not necessarily the incident; more about the victim."

"Did something long-term happen to the squirt?" He asked.

"No he is fine; his neighbor prevents his body from lasting pain and wounds." The hokage leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. "I took him to the hospital last night to make sure everything was fine with him. While he was getting checked I went to his apartment." Kuzuri raised an eyebrow. "Yes he lives by himself. The orphanage wasn't caring for him properly so I gave him a place he could live and I give him 20,000 ryo a week for living expenses. When I got to his apartment I was shocked and appalled at what I found. The room was vandalized and all his furniture was old and rotted out. When I looked at his food; I discovered you couldn't even call it edible. Everything was at least a week past the expiration date. I left at that point and went to see Naruto. When I talked to him at the hospital and asked him about everything I became very angry at what I heard. Naruto told me that every weekend people would come and trash his house. The only reason they never harmed him was because he would escape through a loose floorboard. He quit locking his door because they would break it. When I asked about the food he said he didn't know it was expired because that's what they sold him; at very expensive prices to. The entire 20,000 ryo would go to an amount of food that would last a person 3 days and it was all expired to." The old man jumped back a little bit when a loud snapping sound came from the man in front of him. He looked at him and saw he was holding a piece of the chair he sat on in his hand.

"Thos fuckers would dare go to those lengths to make the squirts life miserable?" He stood up and kicked the chair away. "I am the furthest thing from being a saint; but even I would never make a child go through anything like that." He was now moving menacingly from side to side.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to hunt every one of those people down and gut them like a damn fish. The ones I don't kill; I'm going to make them wish they were dead." A slight screech came from Kuzuri's hands and the hokage looked at the six blades that sat between his knuckles.

"While that sounds like a legitimately wonderful idea, one I have thought of doing many times might I add, I have a much better idea than that." The man still enraged quit pacing and another screech came from his hands and the blades disappeared. He signaled for the hokage to continue with what he was saying. The old man pulled out a stack of papers and placed them on the desk and waved the man back over. He read the first page and his eyebrows rose as he looked at the hokage.

"You gotta be shitting me."

"No I am not. He has the gene in him." The hokage said. "As for my idea; read the next couple of pages." Kuzuri put the first paper down and started reading through the papers. When he finished he threw the stack on the desk.

"No way. There is no way it's gonna happen." He exclaimed.

"And why shouldn't it? I think it's a wonderful plan that will work out for everyone involved."

"I'm not qualified for that shit bub. I'm the wrong person for it. You could get Jingure or Shadoukyatto to do it. Hell even Shishi and Bishoppu are better for that. I'm not doing it." The hokage fixed him with a glare that halted his tirade.

"I'm getting a little tired of you always being so argumentative Kuzuri. You will do this because you're the only person I trust with it." The man grunted and sat back down in his chair. "Now, all that is required is your signature on the bottom of the last paper." Kuzuri pulled out the last page and looked at the bottom where a line with an x next to it sat. He sighed and grabbed the pen the hokage was holding out to him and signed it quickly handing the paper to him. The hokage briefly looked at the paper and smiled at the man as he stamped it with his seal of approval and filed it away. "Congratulations Kuzuri; you are now legally the father of Uzumaki Naruto." The man rested his head on the desk in front of him.

"This is gonna be a fucking nightmare." The man growled out.

"Nonsense, now you better go pick up your son from the hospital. I believe he is getting discharged within the hour." The hokage chuckled and put his pipe in his mouth lighting it. Kuzuri stood and scowled at the hokage. The leaders smile disappeared when after two quick screeches and movement from Kuzuri his pipe fell into multiple pieces onto his desk. The lit tobacco quickly lit the rest of the papers on the desk on fire. The hokage scrambled to put the fire out. "KUZURI!" He yelled.

Said man was walking down the street towards the hospital. "Serves that old asshole right." With that said he continued on his way.

A/N: Well I hope you all liked it and I hope to hear your feedback. 20,000 ryo may seem like a lot of money, but it's translated to 200 dollars American. I am just using a rounded out Yen-Dollar ratio of 10-1. Please review


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

A/N: Got some hits and some people even put this on update alert and story favorites. That's great for me; shows people at least like my story; wish i got some reviews though. I'm not to sure what the pairing should be; thinking Naruto x Ino, Naruto x Haku, or Naruto x Tayuya. Review and let me know what you think. And also I noticed a small typo on my part at the end of the last chapter. It's not a 10-1 yen-dollar ratio it's 100-1.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other outside source introduced into my story. I only own the idea and this story.

Kuzuri arrived at the hospital with a sour look on his face. He walked up to the information counter and looked at the nurse behind the counter. She was spun around in her chair and reading the latest 'Celebrity Ninja' magazine. He cleared his throat and she hurriedly put the magazine and turned around. "Yes um, sorry about that I didn't see you come in. How may I help you sir?" She asked him.

"Yes I am here to get Uzumaki Naruto." He frowned as she scowled at the name and gave him a strange look. "Is there a problem ma'am?"

"Not with you there isn't." She spat out. She looked through the in-patient documents on the desk next to her. "The trash is in the Hokage's personal check-up room under the care of Dr. Shimo. The room is up the stairs at the very top of the building." Kuzuri nodded and started walking towards the stair well.

He stopped and turned around. "I'm going to be letting your boss know about what you do in your spare time and how you don't keep an unbiased opinion of all your patients." He ignored the woman's gasp and walked through the door and up the stairs. He got to the very top and walked into a long hallway. "It's gotta be at the fucking top; why is everything with the old man at the top?" He started walking down the hallway. He walked for seemingly five minutes and got no further down the hall. He stopped and scowled. "Who ever is there; can you turn this damn illusion off?" The hallway flickered and he now stood in a much shorter hallway. A woman in her twenties stood in front of him with a glare in her eyes. She had blonde hair that stopped at the top of her breasts.

"May I ask why you are on the hokage's personal floor? Might I add in; if you are here to cause this poor boy harm, I will kill you where you stand. I might be the doctor here, but I am a retired Jounin and part of the hokage's elite. You won't stand a chance."

"Listen lady; I'm not going to harm the squirt. I'm here to pick him up." He responded. "And I severely doubt you could kill me anyways." A flash of movement from her and a sharp pain erupted in his cheek moving his head to the side a little bit. The woman in front of him held a kunai in her hand with blood on it.

"If you can bleed, you can be killed." Her glare disappeared and the kunai lowered a little bit as she watched the deep gash she just gave him heal and seal completely shut leaving no scar. "How the hell?" Her response was Kuzuri pulling a badge out of his pocket and showing her. It had a red background with Konoha's leaf symbol in black on it. She put the kunai away and bowed slightly. "I didn't realize you were a commander in the elite. I sincerely apologize." Kuzuri grunted and put the badge away.

"As protocol; you're claiming to be a part of the elite and I have no record of you. You might have served under Jingure, but I have to ask to see your badge." She nodded and pulled her badge out of her coat pocket. It had a blue background with a black leaf. "Alright put it away and let's get back on topic." She nodded and put it away.

"I'm sorry for the hostility, but Naruto was moved to this floor because civilians would sneak in and try to attack him while he was here." Kuzuri scowled. "I have been treating the poor boy for the past three years and I see him as my son so I'm very protective of him."

"Well like I said I am here to pick him up and take him home. "

"While I trust you as a commander in the forces; I need to ask you what your connection to the boy is. I can't just let some random person come in and check him out no matter what their status is." The glare was gone, but she had a stone like gaze in her eyes. "And since I can't get a read out of your mind you just need to tell me."

"So that's yours huh?" He shook his head. "Damn telepaths. As of about an hour ago; I am the boy's father." Her jaw dropped at this.

"The Hokage let you adopt him?" Her hand clenched into a fist. "All these years I have been asking him to adopt the boy and he would never let me. Than you just come along wanting to adopt him and the Hokage says 'Sure, why not.' It's bullshit." She spat out. In a flash the man in front of her had her pinned to the wall with her feet off the ground.

"Now listen here _lieutenant_. The Hokage put the squirt under my protection. He practically forced the kid under my care. I may not be thrilled about the idea only because I'm not father material. But I have seen how he is treated in the village; hell I fucking saved him from three Jounin who couldn't keep personal opinions out of their work place." He fixed her with a glare. "The old man is ordering this; and I promise you that under my care he won't come under any harm. I will do my best to raise him like my own. I will bring this entire fucking village to the ground if it endangers his safety." He put her down but still had a glare on his face. "Now I would appreciate it if you went and got my son so that we could leave and I can get him some stuff." The woman stood there giving him a look. She turned to start walking down the small hall.

"You may say that you aren't cut out for this whole father thing, but that reaction is exactly what a protective father would have done." With that said she disappeared into the room at the end of the hall. Kuzuri grunted and leaned against the wall crossing his arms. He waited five minutes and she walked back out of the room holding the small boys hands. The boy saw the man and ran up to him hugging his legs.

"You're the awesome dude that saved me."

"Yeah that's me squirt. Now, may I ask why your hugging my legs?"

The boy let go and looked shy. "It was my way of thanking you for the help last night."

"Come on kid; I'm the one taking you home." He grabbed onto Kuzuri's pant leg and waved at Dr. Shimo.

"Bye Ema-kaa-san!" He blew her a kiss as Kuzuri turned them both to leave.

"Oh might I add doctor. You may want to teach your receptionist that proper things to do with her downtime and not to hold judgment on your patients. Especially a little one." Kuzuri said tilting his head at Naruto. The doctor scowled and pushed past them to go down the stairs. Kuzuri and Naruto followed her down the stairs and across the lobby floor as she stormed up to the receptionist who was again spun around reading her magazine. She slammed her hand on the counter and the girl spun around faster than lightning.

"Dr. Shimo! Is there anything I can assist you with?"

"Yes there is actually." The young woman looked at the doctor expectantly. "You can pack all your shit and get the fuck out of my hospital right now." She hissed out. She turned around and saw Naruto with a confused look on his face and Kuzuri with a smirk. She kneeled down so she was eye level with Naruto. "Now I want you to be good for Kuzuri-san here okay?' The boy nodded his head eagerly. "Good, now I don't want you to forget about your dear old kaa-san who get's all lonely here by herself."

"No way! I'll still visit you; I love my kaa-san!" The little blonde boy cheered out with a big beaming smile on his face. Ema's eyes watered a little bit.

"And I love you to Naruto." She hugged the boy and kissed him on the cheek. She stood back up and wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked Kuzuri in the eyes. "If anything happens to him; you won't have to worry about the Hokage punishing you. I'll make your life miserable." He nodded his head. She turned and started walking down the hallway towards the offices. She passed a tearful woman who was finishing getting her stuff together. "Maybe next time you get a job; keep personal opinions out of it." With that said she disappeared into her office.

"Come on squirt let's get out of here." The two walked out of the hospital and turned right down the street.

"This is the wrong way. I live back that way." The boy said trying to pull him the other way.

"You're not going to live there anymore Naruto. You're coming to live with me." The boy smiled and started jumping around. "What are you jumping around for?"

"Because I don't have to be alone anymore!" He said happily. He stopped jumping and looked at him. "Why am I living with you now though?"

"I'm the only one the old man trusts to protect you." They kept walking down the road. "Now I'm gonna be buying you some new things for my apartment." The boy nodded with a smile on his face still. They reached the market district and walked into a clothing store. The bell jingled and the man behind the counter turned around with a smile.

"Welcome, please look around and let me know if I can-" His words stopped as he saw the small blonde haired boy who stood behind Kuzuri a little bit. "How many times have I told you to stay out of my store demon!" He went to grab something from under the counter but a steel grip on his wrist stopped him. He looked up into the glare of Kuzuri. Kuzuri looked and saw tears in the corners of his eyes.

"Naruto, why don't you go pick out some clothes you like while I have a little talk with the man here." The boy nodded slowly and walked down and aisle to look around. Kuzuri kept his grip on the mans wrist and drug him around the corner. "What the fuck is your problem bub?"

"He's the demon, why should I give him business?" The man said. His answer was a clawed fist going into the wall right next to the man's head.

"Because if you don't give him business I'll come back here and kill you slowly. If you try to over charge him I will disfigure you." He pulled the claws out of the wall and put them away. "Has the boy done anything that could be considered malicious or evil?" The man shook his head.

"But he holds the demon inside of him. It could escape at any time and kill us all."

"How do you see him as the container but still doubt it so much?" He let go of the mans wrist. "You all worshipped the fourth Hokage didn't you?" He nodded his head. "He could do anything and never fail at it couldn't he?" The man nodded again. "Than why do you all think the seal is going break and release the demon? The fourth created it and stopped the fox from destroying the village. And you all attack the boy and try to kill him; maybe you don't realize if you do kill him it will release the fox on you all. And I'm sure that the fox isn't happy with how you treat his host." The man's face fell. "Pass my message on to all your merchant buddies at the guild of merchants meeting tomorrow. Now that boy is going to come back with some things he likes and we are going to purchase them. And remember, if you over charge I will harm you. As the first person I'm telling this to I'll tell you what I plan to do if you over charge."

He stepped up to the man so his face was two inches from the man's. "I'll come back here and one by one cut your fingers off. Than I will slowly take your right arm. And finally I will take your tongue out." He sniffed a little and scowled. "Can't believe you pissed yourself with me just telling you that bub." He stepped away from the man. "If you treat this boy like the demon, I'll come back and show you what a demon is. Now get back behind the counter." The man nodded and scurried off to the entrance. Kuzuri walked into the aisles and saw Naruto holding a large orange bundle. His eyebrow rose and he lifted it up looking at it. It was a orange jumpsuit with a little bit of blue on it. "Is this all you picked out?" The boy nodded. "Hell no kid." The kid frowned and looked sad. Kuzuri sighed and grabbed the boy's hand dragging him towards the aisles. "Let's see if we can't find you something with some orange in it that isn't murder on the eyes." They searched through the clothes for a while and finally picked something out for Naruto to wear.

"I want the orange suit." Naruto said indignantly with his arms crossed. Kuzuri grunted in annoyance.

"Listen, no way am I paying my hard earned money on something that looks that horrible." The boy pouted.

"What if I just wore it at the house? No one would have to even see it except for me and you." The man thought for a second.

"Alright sounds like a deal to me. If you even try to walk out of the apartment wearing that thing; I'm painting it pink and making you wear ribbons in your hair."

"Okay mister sounds good to me."

They continued to look through the clothes grabbing ones that looked good. Kuzuri took note of the prices of the things they picked and memorized the total. They took their things to the counter and Kuzuri looked at the man who seemed to be deep in thought.

He shook his head and looked at the things they brought up. He started shuffling through all the clothing writing down prices. When he had them all written down he added all of it together and handed the paper to Kuzuri. "The total is 25,000 ryo sir." Kuzuri smirked and nodded. He pulled the total amount out of his wallet and handed it to the man. He gave him an additional 200 ryo after he wrote something on it.

"That's a tip for being such a pleasant business owner. I hope to do business with you in the future?" Kuzuri said. The man nodded his head as he was placing the things into bags. He finished and gave them to Kuzuri.

"Have a good day gentlemen." The man said as Naruto and Kuzuri left. When the door closed the man sighed. "I definitely got a lot to think about. Maybe we have been wrong about the boy the whole time." He looked at the bill to see what Kuzuri had written on it. 'Here's some money so you can pay for a pair of pants. You smell absolutely horrible.'

"Now remember squirt; that horrendous orange jumpsuit, you can only wear that thing when you are at the apartment. There is no way I'm gonna let you wear that thing outside of the house." Kuzuri and Naruto arrived at a three story apartment building with the bags. "Come on Naruto we are on the second floor." They walked up the stairs and walked to apartment number nine. Kuzuri was about to open the door when a brown blur grabbed Naruto. Kuzuri spun around with his claws extended stopping them millimeters away from Shadoukyatto's face. The girl froze with Naruto in her arms. Kuzuri sighed and put his claws away as the girl put Naruto down. "Jeeze Shadoukyatto, you could warn a guy before you sneak up on him and grab his son." When Kuzuri said that both Shadoukyatto and Naruto froze up. He looked at the two in confusion before he realized what he said. "Aw shit." Both fainted at that. Jingure walked down the stairs from the third floor and saw Kuzuri standing there by two passed out people.

"What did you do Kuzuri?" The man just sighed and opened the door.

"Can you grab the kid and bring him in here. I'll get Shadou and bring her in." The red headed woman smiled and shook her head slightly. She walked over and picked the boy up as Kuzuri picked up the girl putting her over his shoulder as he grabbed the dropped bags. He followed Jingure into his apartment.

"So where do you want me to put him?" She asked.

"You can go put him on the bed in the guest bedroom." She raised an eyebrow at that but put did so anyways. He walked to the couch and dropped the girl onto it. He walked back to the room that Jingure put the boy in and set the bags down next to the bed. He left the room with the red head following him. He walked into the kitchen and opened up the fridge. He pulled out a beer and sliced the top off with a claw and took a big drink out of it. "This day can't get any fucking worse." He turned around and saw the woman leaning against the doorway. "So where were you off to red?"

"I was going to go train with Kenmijinko." The man grunted at this. "I know you don't like him all that much, but the Hokage is thinking about making him the sixth general. It's probably more likely to with all the news kids we are going to be teaching."

"Yeah I know, doesn't mean I have to like the idea of it." He said taking another big drink of his beer.

"So, do you wanna tell me why you had two passed out people in front of your apartment when I walked down?"

"Not really." The woman just gave him a look that said you better tell me.

"You know I could just pry it out of your head if I wanted to right?" Kuzuri just nodded. "I don't because I know you have issues about that. So why don't you just tell me?"

"Alright fine; you know I can't say no to you red." He sighed and finished his beer. "Well they both fainted when I accidentally let it slip that the blonde, Naruto, is now my son. There I told you. What do you think?" His only response was a loud thump as she passed out in his kitchen. "Son of a bitch."

A/N: Well there's chapter two. Next chapter is some more development between Kuzuri and Naruto, and meet some of the "Rookie 9" If you enjoyed it feel free to review :)

Translations: The only things I'm going to translate are new names and any new techniques I come up with. I'm not going to translate what everyone already knows.

Kuzuri- Wolverine

Jingure- Jean Grey

Shishi- Beast

Shadoukyatto- Shadow Cat

Bishoppu- Bishop

Foji- Forge

Kenmijinko- Cyclops


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N: Alright well here's chapter three. This will be quite a bit longer than the first two as there's a lot I want to cover in this one. Same with the next chapter. After these next two chapters we will be getting into the real good stuff in my opinion. I have some new ideas for characters and some pairings also. This is an AU story so everyone will be kind of OOC if you hadn't noticed already. Well let's get started!

Disclaimer: Okay I'm not going to be doing this anymore. I'm assuming everyone read the first two chapters so there.

Kuzuri sat in a recliner drinking another beer waiting for everyone to wake back up. The two women passed out in the living room started to stir. He sighed and chugged the rest of the beer as he prepared himself to explain. The red head woke up first and sat up on the couch she was laying on. Shadou woke a couple seconds later holding her head. "That was quite the dream. I could have sworn that Kuzuri said that Naruto is his son." She muttered.

"That's funny; I had the exact same dream." Jingure replied. She looked at Kuzuri sitting there. "At least I think it was a dream."

"Well no it wasn't a dream." Shadou's jaw dropped and Jingure's eyes widened. "Yeah, after the meeting when the old man held me back that's when it happened. He kind of forced me to." Jingure's eyes narrowed.

"So your not even going to try to raise the boy are you?" She growled out. Shadou frowned and crossed her arms giving him a look. "You could have said no; or someone else could have done it like me or Shadou."

"You think I didn't bring that up with the Hokage?" He snapped back. "He told me that I was the only one he could trust with this so I'm going to take it as serious as I take anything else. I might not be thrilled about it, but I'm going to do my best to raise the squirt as my own."

"How come you didn't tell him right away when you picked him up?" Shadou asked. "He seemed as surprised as me outside of your apartment when you said it."

"Because I wasn't planning on telling him until he got older." Jingure raised an eyebrow. "I was going to tell him after he graduated from the new academy. Since we are going to be instructors I didn't want him to know I was his dad and make him think he was going to get special treatment." Jingure nodded her head in understanding.

"Well now he knows, and I sense that he is waking up so me and Shadou are going to leave you two alone." Shadou pouted and slouched.

"I wanted to spoil the little kid. He's so cute." Jingure chuckled and walked towards the door followed by a slow moving Shadou.

"You will have all the time in the world after today." She opened the door and let Shadou out first. "We are going to be his aunts after all." Shadou cheered as Jingure closed the door behind them.

"Great, like I don't see them enough as it is." Kuzuri muttered. The door to the bedroom Naruto was in slowly opened and the small blonde peeked his head out. "Come on out here kid; I need to talk to you." The boy hesitantly stepped out and walked over to one of the couches and sat down on it.

"Is what you said earlier true? Are you really my dad?" The boy asked with hope in his eyes.

"Well, yes and no." The boy's face dropped a little at this. "I'm not your biological father, but I am your adopted father." The boy looked confused at this. "Let me see how to explain this. I'm not your dad by blood, meaning we aren't related by that. But I adopted you. Meaning that I chose to be your dad when you had none. So I'm legally your father and will be raising you and taking care of you as if you were my blood child." The boy seemed to understand and smiled. He shot over to the man and jumped on his lap hugging him. The gruff man tensed up at this. "What's the hug for kid?"

"Because you actually chose me. Not only did you save me last night but you wanted me." The boy beamed a huge smile at the man and he couldn't help but smirk a little.

"What can I say; you're a special kid." He ruffled the boy's hair and put him on the ground. "Now there is another thing we need to talk about." Naruto looked at the man and nodded. "Do you want to join the ninja academy when you are old enough?" He nodded his head enthusiastically.

"I'm gonna be a great ninja like old man and Itachi-san! I wanna become Hokage so that I can make everyone acknowledge me and now to make you proud of me!" He said with as much determination as a six year old boy could. The man chuckled.

"Well that's good to hear Naruto. Now, there is going to be a new academy opening up in two years that you will join. The Hokage is making the minimum age to join eight instead of six so that you all will be more capable of understanding what is being taught. This also means you wont graduate until fourteen instead of twelve." The small blonde nodded his head. "At the new academy me, along with some other friends of mine and a lot of Jounin, are going to be the ones teaching you."

"Sweet! I'm going to get extra special treatment because you're my dad." The boy cheered only to be flicked in the forehead. He held it in pain and glared at the man. "What was that for; that hurt." He pouted.

"You aren't going to be getting special treatment Naruto. I will treat you just as the other students when we are in class." The boy made to protest when Kuzuri's hand covered his mouth. "Now, like the other students you will be able to receive additional training and help from any of the instructors after classes. This practice will extend to all students, but most likely those who have a ninja in their family will go home to receive training; that's what you're going to be doing with me." The boy understood now. "Now when I start to train you in a couple years; don't expect me to go easy on you. I'll train you into the ground and I'm sure a couple of my friends will help me with that." Naruto gulped. "I may not look like it but I do have some ninja training, but what I can't teach you I have some Chuunin and Jounin friends who I could call some favors in with." He got off the recliner and squatted down looking the boy in the eye. "I will give you all the tools you need to become the Hokage. It is going to be up to your effort and determination to how successful your training will be." The boy nodded with his determined look again.

"I will make you proud dad." He said. His look disappeared and was replaced by a sheepish grin when his stomach growled loudly. "Can we get some food; I haven't eaten since yesterday morning?" The boy asked.

"Yesterday morning?" The man said stunned. He frowned and stood up. "Alright, what do you wanna eat?"

"Ramen! I know this place that makes the best ramen around." The man nodded and led the boy out of the apartment locking it behind them. They left the apartment complex and Kuzuri followed behind slightly letting the boy lead the way. A short walk filled with many hate filled glares at the blonde boy and glares from Kuzuri to the people and they arrived at a place called Ichiraku's Ramen. Moving the curtain aside they walked in to see three people already sitting at the counter eating their ramen. A young woman with brown hair stood behind the counter looking bored. She saw the small blonde and smiled.

"Naruto! Welcome back; sit down while I get you and your friend a menu." The blonde nodded and hurried to the counter pulling himself up onto the stool. Kuzuri sat next to him and observed the people at the other end. The eldest was a middle-aged woman with black hair and black eyes wearing a dark blue kimono with a fan symbol on the back. The next one appeared to be seventeen with the same black hair and black eyes. His face had sharp features and he wore a short sleeved black tee-shirt over gray shorts. The same symbol was on the back of his shirt. The final person, the youngest, was a girl that appeared to be Naruto's age. Her black hair stopped at the shoulder of her dark blue shirt. Her black shorts and her shirt were splotched with dirt revealing that she had recently been playing. Kuzuri felt someone staring at him and he looked up to see the boy looking at him. The stare down was broken by the return of Ayame.

"So have you decided what you want to order?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I'll just have a beef ramen." Kuzuri replied as he handed her back his menu.

"I'll have three beef and two pork ramen Ayame-chan." Kuzuri's eyes widened a bit at this. The woman nodded with a smile and took his menu.

"Are you sure you want all that Naruto? That's a lot of food for one boy." Kuzuri asked.

"Yeah I'm sure; I can eat a lot of ramen because it's the best food there is." Kuzuri observed the boy taking in details he didn't notice until now. He was extremely skinny and even for his age he seemed to be short.

"What else do you eat Naruto?"

"Nothing but ramen; it's the greatest." The boy cheered as he kicked his feet back and forth on the stool. He looked over to the only other people at the restaurant. He hopped off the stool and walked over to the small girl. "Hi my name is Naruto; what's yours?" The girl looked away shyly causing Naruto to frown. He looked at his clothes and than smelt himself. He looked up at the boy. "Do I smell or something?" The boy chuckled and shook his head. He lifted the girls head up and looked at her.

"Now Sachiko-chan; it's not polite to ignore someone when they ask for your name." He quietly said to her.

"But Itachi-nii-san; you know I'm nervous to make friends." The now identified Sachiko said. "Dad doesn't let me have any friends." Itachi looked at the woman next to him who just nodded her head.

"How about this nee-chan." Itachi said getting her attention. "If you want to be friends with this boy, me and kaa-san here will keep it quiet from mean ole dad." He told her with a smile on his face.

"Really?" She looked at her mom with hope in her eyes. The woman just smiled.

"Of course Sachiko, you need to have friends your age." She said.

"Thank you kaa-san!" The girl said cheerfully. She turned around in her stool and looked at Naruto who was still standing there looking at his feet uncomfortably. "Hi Naruto, my name is Sachiko. Do you want to be friends with me?" She asked as she hoped off of her stool to stand in front of the boy. Naruto looked shocked at the question.

"Y-you want to be fr-friends with me?" He stuttered out. The girl in front of him nodded her head enthusiastically. Once again a large beaming smile came onto Naruto's face. "Of course I want to be friends with you." He turned around to look at Kuzuri who was watching the whole scene. "Can I be friends with her oto-san?" He asked expectantly. What Naruto called the man shocked everyone in the stand except the little girl.

"Squirt, you can be friends with whoever you want to be friends with. You don't need to ask my permission." Kuzuri told him. Naruto's smile got even bigger if that was possible. He turned back to the girl.

"We're now friends Sachiko-chan!" Her cheeks tinted red a little bit at the –chan Naruto added at the end. Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Are you feeling okay Sachiko-chan? You look like you have a fever." The boy asked in concern of his new friend. This caused the girls mother to chuckled and both Kuzuri and Itachi smirked at this. The girls blush deepened hearing her mother laugh and she turned away.

"I'm fine Naruto." She replied. Once her blush went away she faced him again. "Do you want to go play with me outside?"

"Yeah I would love to!" He responded. They both ran out of the restaurant just as Ayame came back out with his and Kuzuri's food.

"Where is he off to? His food just got done." She said frowning.

"Sorry about that, he got excited to play with his new friend and they ran off. If its not to much of a problem can you just bag all of these?" Kuzuri asked. She sighed and nodded her head as she went into the back to get them. Feeling like he was being stared at again he looked to notice that Itachi, his mother, and the owner of the stand were all staring at him. "Is there something on my face?"

"Why did Naruto call you his father?" Itachi bluntly asked.

"Probably because I am." Kuzuri replied just as bluntly.

"Everyone knows Naruto doesn't have a father though." The woman said.

"Well I adopted him this morning so now he does have one." Itachi growled and stood up walking up to the man. Kuzuri frowned and stood up as well looking down upon the boy. "Is there a problem bub?"

"Yes there is; I have been the guardian for the boy ever since he was born and I don't think I like you adopting him." He said flatly.

"Some guardian you are than." Itachi's eyes changed colors and were now red with three comma like marks in them. "Oh sharingan huh? I'm so scared." Kuzuri said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Itachi demanded.

"If you were supposed to be guarding him; how come I had to save him from three Jounin level ninja last night?" Kuzuri snapped at the man. "Why don't you tell me that? Or are all ninja in this village that incompetent?"

"Naruto was attacked last night?" Itachi asked stunned. "I was summoned by my father to a clan meeting last night." Kuzuri snorted at this.

"So clan orders surpass those of the Hokage huh?"

"No, my father just said that it was dire that I attend. I figured that Naruto would be fine for an hour."

"Well you were obviously wrong." Kuzuri sat back down. "It's behind us now; all anyone needs to know is that after last night I adopted Naruto this morning and he is now living with me." Itachi seemed to calm down slightly and stepped away from the man. Ayame placed Kuzuri's food on the counter after making sure the men weren't going to fight. "Now what are we going to do about those two." Kuzuri asked motioning out the curtain with his head.

"What do you mean? You don't want to keep them from being friends do you?" The woman asked. "My name is Mikoto by the way ."

"No I don't want to keep them away from each other." Kuzuri replied. "From what I could tell Naruto has only had a handful of people be nice to him. So the more friend the better. It also makes things a bit easier on me." He added the last part under his breath. "What I'm talking about is a play schedule for them." He said.

"Well what did you have in mind?" Mikoto looked genuinely intrigued.

"From the sounds of it your husband doesn't want Sachiko to have friends. So I was thinking that every Wednesday and Saturday, Itachi here could bring her over to my apartment complex or we could meet up somewhere else. How does that sound?" Kuzuri asked.

"That sounds fine with me. Itachi and myself will have to think up some excuse to get her out of the house." She looked at her son. "We could tell my husband that she is going to watch her brother train and he is giving her pointer she could use later on."

"That sounds like a good idea kaa-san. What if father sends someone to oversee what we are doing?" He asked.

"I can get that one covered probably. One of my friends in the apartment complex is extremely talented in…genjutsu." Kuzuri said. "She could make it look like Itachi and Sachiko are training in a gym." Itachi and Mikoto just raised an eyebrow at this."

"You do know that the Uchiha are extremely adept at detecting genjutsu right? They are practically useless against us with our sharingan activated." Mikoto mentioned. Kuzuri just chuckled at this.

"That may be true about regular genjutsu, but these illusions are a whole hell of a lot more complex and annoying than even the strongest genjutsu." Kuzuri said. "You may not believe me but I can guarantee it." Itachi stared at the man.

"Who exactly are you?" He asked.

"The names Kuzuri."

"Are you a ninja?"

"Actually I'm not."

"How were you able to dispatch three Jounin level ninja if you aren't a ninja?"

"I have had some ninja training, but mostly because I work out often and am skilled in many different martial arts styles. Also I'm very skilled with…knives."

"Where do you work?"

"I don't really think that's any of your business."

"I'm making it my business. If you're going to have Naruto under your care I need to make sure you are financially responsible."

"The Hokage let me adopt him if you forgot. If I wasn't able to take care of him financially do you really think he would let me adopt him?" Kuzuri growled out. "But let me put your mind at ease. I make double what the average Jounin does in a month." Itachi appeared to accept that.

"I'm just curious as to your profession is all." Itachi said.

"I'm not going to discuss it in the presence of civilians, _shinjin_." Kuzuri snapped back. Itachi's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry senpei, I didn't realize you were part of the Kage Purotekuta." Itachi whispered bowing slightly. Mikoto's eyes widened at this.

"How do you know he is part of such a group?" She asked him in a whisper.

"They are the only ones who actually call the ANBU, the most skilled ninja in the village, shinjin." Itachi whispered back. Kuzuri grabbed his food and made for the exit. He shook Itachi's hand before he walked out. Itachi looked in his hand and saw a paper with an address on it.

"I'll be seeing you on Wednesday bub." He said. He walked out of the restaurant and saw Naruto and Sachiko playing on the swings in the playground across the street. "Naruto!" Kuzuri called. The blonde boy quit swinging and looked at the man. "It's time to go home." The two children pouted but got off the swings and ran over.

"But oto-san…. I don't wanna go. I wanna keep playing with Sachiko-chan." The boy whined.

"Quit your whining squirt." Kuzuri said. "Itachi is going to bring Sachiko here over twice a week to play with you, but you're going to whine like this than I guess I could knock it down to only one day." Both children's eyes widened.

"I'll be good dad I promise!" Naruto said as he stood up straight. "No more whining from me I promise!" Kuzuri chuckled a little bit.

"That's more like it." He looked at the girl who sighed in relief. "You better run along Sachiko. We look forward to seeing you later this week." She turned and hugged Naruto quickly before saying good-bye and running off. Kuzuri chuckled slightly at the light blush that adorned Naruto's cheeks. "Got yourself a girlfriend already huh Naruto?" The boy blushed deepened. "And at such a young age. I wonder how many girlfriends you will have when you hit your teenage years."

"She's not my girlfriend." The boy muttered.

Kuzuri just smiled and shook his head. "Whatever you say squirt. I got the food you forgot to eat. Let's head back to the apartment so that you can eat it." The blonde's stomach chose this moment to growl loudly.

"I guess I was so excited that I forgot." He said.

"Men will forget a lot of things for the girl they are pursuing." Kuzuri replied. Naruto nodded his head before he caught himself.

"Stop it oto-san! I already told you she isn't my girlfriend." Kuzuri just laughed and started walking down the street towards his apartment with the boy chasing after him. When they got closer to the apartment complex a brown haired girl appeared quickly and grabbed Naruto hugging him. Kuzuri's tensed shoulders relaxed after he saw it was Shadou.

"He is sooo cute!" The girl gushed out. The blonde in her arms was blushing once again. "He is even cuter when he blushes like that!" This of course made the boys blush get even brighter as he tried to hide his face.

"Alright Shadou you're gonna make the poor kid die of embarrassment." Kuzuri said. She stuck her tongue out at the man and kept on holding onto the boy.

"Excuse me ma'am but I don't think I know you." Naruto muttered out. Shadou held the boy out at arms length and smiled at the boy.

"My name is Shadoukyatto and I'm a friend of your dad's." Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "But you can just call me Shadou-oba-chan." She said. Naruto smiled.

"This is the best day ever!" He shouted as he hugged the woman. "I get a dad, a new friend, and a aunt!" His smile caused Shadou's smile to get even wider. "Could this day get any better?"

"Just wait until you meet my friend Jingure." She said. "She is a bit of a stickler with the rules though so she might not spoil you as much as I would." Naruto's smile refused to leave his face.

"I'm a stickler huh?" A voice from right behind the brunette said startling both Naruto and Shadou.

"Jingure, uh of course not." She said with a smile and held Naruto out to her who waved sheepishly.

"Um hi there Aka-chan." The boy said. Kuzuri chuckled at the nickname.

"Looks like you are never going to get rid of the nickname red are you Jingure?" Jingure observed the boy before looking around. Noticing no one was around she did what no one expected her to do. She squealed and grabbed the boy hugging him.

"So kawaii!" Naruto's blush returned in full force as he was hugged for the umpteenth time today. She kissed the boy on the cheek before placing him on the ground. "Now that I got that unprofessionalism out of the way," She said clearing her throat "my name is Jingure as I'm sure you gathered from Shadou here." Naruto just nodded. "You can call me Aka-oba-chan though." She motioned to Kuzuri. "When that big bundle of joy over there needs someone to watch you it will be either me or Shadou here who will watch you. We are also going to swing by every now and then to spend some time with you." Naruto's blush disappeared and was replaced by a smile as he hugged the woman's legs.

"Today just did get better." He said cheerfully. He looked up at the two women. "Will you guys take me to see kaa-san if I wanted to?" Jingure raised an eyebrow at Kuzuri.

"His kaa-san is the hokage's personal doctor. Her name is Shimo Ema."

"Ah I know her. She is under my division on the Purotekuta." Jingure said.

"I figured, she tried reading my mind when I went to pick Naruto up from the hospital." Kuzuri scoffed out. "You're only one of two people who can do that with the barriers I got up here." Kuzuri said tapping his temple. "Anyways, I told the squirt here that I would take him to see her once a week, but if one of you wanted to in place of me that's fine with me."

"Sure, anytime he wants to go see her I'll take him." Shadou said. "Of course that's if I'm in town at the time." Jingure conveyed her agreement in this.

Naruto walked over to Kuzuri and tugged on his pant leg getting the man to look at the boy. "Do you think they would like Sachiko-chan and want to play with us?" Jingure and Shadou both got interested expressions on their face.

"Oh, so my little oi already has himself a girlfriend." The red head said with a teasing smile. "I would love to meet the girl who already captured little Naruto-kun's heart already."

"I never blushed so much in one day." Naruto muttered out and he once again had a blush on his face. "She's not my girlfriend; just a new friend I made today. My first friend actually!" The boy said.

"Aww that's so cute!" Shadou replied. She turned to Jingure. "Maybe we could get together with her mom and we could all start planning a wedding!" Both woman started going on about possible weddings, what the children would look like, and so on and so forth.

"You guys do realize the boy is only six years old right?" Kuzuri asked receiving nods from the women.

"Doesn't mean we can't do an arranged marriage!" Jingure said happily.

"You don't even know what this girl is like though. Or what family she is a part of."

"Oh come on Kuzuri; it's our first chance at showing our motherly sides don't ruin it for us." Shadou said with a slight frown. Kuzuri put his hands up in surrender. "And

"Alright my bad." He said. He pulled a cigar out of his pocket and lit it taking a puff. "I really needed one of these; it's been to long between them." He exhaled the cloud of smoke and looked up seeing frowns on both women's faces. "What?" He asked. The cigar came out of his mouth and floated in front of his eyes before it broke into many little pieces.

"You're kicking the smoking habit while you are raising Naruto." Jingure said.

"No way; I have been smoking those things for years. You can't just expect me to stop." Kuzuri replied with a scowl on his face.

"You can and you will." Jingure's words came with a tone of finality. "I have already eliminated all the cigars in your apartment." Kuzuri growled at this. She looked at Naruto whose eyes were wide.

"Did you guys see that!" He exclaimed. "The smoking thing just floated there before it fell apart! That was so cool; can I learn how to do that?" He asked excitedly. Jingure just laughed.

"Maybe you can Naruto-kun; you will find out at the academy what you will be able to learn." She said. Naruto just grinned.

"I hope I can; than I would do all kinds of cool stuff with it. Like get things off of high shelves."

"That would certainly be very cool." Jingure told him. "Well I really have to go now. Kenmijinko is going to be pissed, he has been waiting for me for the past hour and a half." She hugged Naruto and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later oi, don't let Mr. Grumpy over there not let you have any fun." Naruto nodded his head.

"You got it Aka-oba-chan." The woman just chuckled and looked at Kuzuri.

"Take care of Naruto. I'm sure that Sekushi na Shimo would be unhappy if something happened to him." She walked off leaving Kuzuri standing there with wide eyes.

"I really hate telepaths." He muttered as him, Naruto, and Shadou started walking up the stairs. "Can I help you Shadou?" He asked.

"Nope! I'm just going to play with my nephew here once he gets done eating." The man grunted and opened his door and they all walked in. He set the bag of food on the counter and got the bowls out for Naruto who quickly started to gobble down the ramen.

"Kid I have some really unfortunate news for you." Kuzuri said. The boy looked up from his bowl with noodles hanging out of his mouth. "I'm only going to let you have ramen once a week." The boy gasped and started choking on his food.

"Why would you do that? Ramen is great." The boy asked shocked.

"Because you need to eat something else besides ramen or you will never get bigger." The boy frowned and looked at his food. "I can make some really good food for you instead of ramen that you will like." The boy just grumbled. "And I guess when we start you're training; if you are doing really well I could have one of your aunts take you out to get some." The boy's frown disappeared. "But you need to pass a test from me in order to be able to okay." The boy nodded enthusiastically. "Okay good. I'm at least being nice enough to let you have ramen every once in a while. I could have cut it out completely. Now hurry up and finish eating so that your aunt here can play with you." If possible the boy finished his food faster than he ever has and hopped out of the chair grabbing the woman's hand.

"What do you want to play oba-chan?" He asked.

"Whatever you want to play Naruto. Does your dad have any games around here?" Both of the people looked at the man who just sighed.

"I guess I should have got some while I was out earlier. Would you mind taking him out to get some?" He asked the woman and she shook her head. He pulled out his wallet and handed here some money. "Be careful when you enter the store. I doubt the store owner will be happy to see him." He whispered to the girl.

"No problem; if he tries to start something… well you know the phrase. Hell hath no fury like a women scorned." She said as she looked at Naruto. "Alright little guy, let's go get some things you could play with. Maybe we can even find something that will be fun for you and your little girlfriend." She said laughing.

"Oba-chan! How many time do I have to tell you guys she isn't my girlfriend." He replied.

"it doesn't matter how many times you tell us Naruto-kun because we wont ever believe you." She told him with a smile as they walked out the door. Kuzuri sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"Man, I have only had the kid for about six hours and I'm already worn out." He looked at the mess the kid left on his table. Noodles and broth covered where the boy sat moments before. "These are going to be the longest years of my already long life." The man muttered as he cleaned the mess up. When he finished that he went into the boy's bedroom and put the clothes in the bags into a dresser in the corner. He held up the orange jumpsuit that he was talked into buying. "I can't believe I paid money for this shit." He shook his head and folded it up putting it on top of the dresser. No doubt the boy would want to wear it when they got back, and it might even give him some entertainment when Shadou saw him wearing it.

Kuzuri than went in his bedroom and proceeded to take a shower and change his clothes. When he finished the shower he put on a pair of black sweats and a plain white tee-shirt. When he walked out he saw that Shadou and Naruto were just now returning. Shadou held two large bags by the handles and a scowl on her face. "That shop owner makes me sick. He wont be very happy once the Hokage hears about this."

"What happened?" Kuzuri asked noticing the boy who looked a little sad.

"Well for one the stupid shop keeper tried to over charge me by a five thousand ryo. I caught him in the act and he gave me the right price so I paid that. Than when the man thought I wasn't paying attention; that bastard tried to lay a hand on Naruto." Kuzuri growled at this and Shadou saw his claws start to creep out.

"Do I need to go over there Shadou?" He asked menacingly. "I'll make that piece of shit loose the ability to use his arm."

"Don't worry; I already did just that." Shadou replied placing the bags on the ground. "I broke his arm and than use my powers to and tied his muscles and nerves in a knot after moving the pieces of the broken bone out of place. They will no doubt have to amputate as the only one who could even come close to fixing it would be Tsunade-sama." Kuzuri smiled darkly at this.

"I like your action better than mine. Much more painful than my idea and it lasts a lot longer." He then looked at Naruto. "Hey squirt, I put your clothes away in your bedroom, why don't you go change out of those rags while Shadou gets a game ready for you both to play." The boy nodded slowly and wandered into the bedroom. A loud cheer came from behind the shut door. "Looks like the squirts happy again." When he came back out Shadou's jaw dropped and Kuzuri just laughed at the look on her face. There in all the glory it holds stood Naruto in his orange jumpsuit.

"You're the best oto-san!" He said happily.

"Wh-what is that thing Kuzuri?" Shadou stuttered out. "Are those even considered clothes?"

"It's what the kid wanted at the clothes store. Don't worry though, I at least bought him more clothes and said that he could only wear it in the apartment.' He said. "It really is the worst thing I have ever seen though." Shadou nodded her head in agreement. "So what do you got planned for the little squirt?"

"I found a couple good games. I got shougi, checkers, a board game named Clue, one called Sorry!, and finally one called Monopoly: Elemental Country edition." She said holding up the last game. "It comes with these little cards with various information about different historical places in the elemental countries. I picked out game that could help get started with teaching Naruto various things."

".Looks like you aren't completely dumb. That's actually a pretty good idea Shadou. I get how all of those could help except for the Sorry! one." Kuzuri said.

"Well I picked that one out just simply because it looked like it would be fun." She muttered the woman pouting as Naruto ran up to them.

"I also got him some regular kid's toys to play with and this ridiculous orange frog he had me get." She told him holding up a large stuffed orange frog.

"It's a toad not a frog oba-chan!" Naruto said grabbing it from the woman and hugging it. "They're the best. One saved me from a bunch of people once. He was the same color as Gama-chan but he was as tall as oto-san with a really big pole that he used to beat up the people chasing me. So what are we going to play first?" He asked making his eyes big with curiosity.

"What one do you want to play Naruto-kun?" she asked him.

"How bout the one with all the different places on it? It looks like a lot of fun." He replied excited. "Will you play with us oto-san?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure I will squirt." He told him ruffling his hair. The blonde boy smiled and sat down on the floor in front of the living room table still holding onto the toad he named Gama-chan. Shadou and Kuzuri sat down on the couch and got the game out. Kuzuri got the rule book and started reading it. "Alright, so this is a five person game and the five tokens are all the current Kage's of their respective villages."

"I call the old man." Naruto shouted out.

Kuzuri chuckled as he continued reading the booklet. "The game comes with this info booklet containing thousands of facts about the elemental nations and famous ninja. You apply chakra to the seal in the middle and whatever country you are thinking of appears as the game map with various famous locations and ninja appearing in the squares. Everyone starts off with the same amount of game money and they all start at the ninja academy. One person rolls the dice and whatever the number is that's how many spaces they get to move. Before they can move though they must answer a question provided by the book about the world location or the individual's character piece. If the person answers correctly they can move the number of spaces identified by the dice. They can than purchase the space they land on for the specified total on the game board. If the person decides to purchase it they receive a property card that contains a random fact about the area they just purchased. These facts will show up as answers to other questions so memorizing the fact would be extremely helpful. When a person circles the board twice they are promoted to Genin, the next two they are promoted to Chuunin, and so on until the person reaches Kage level. There is one question before each promotion that the person must answer to reach the next level. If they answer any question incorrectly progression is stopped and it's the next person's turn. The first person to reach Kage rank wins the game." Kuzuri put the rule book down and looked at the pieces. He handed the one representing Sarutobi to Naruto and picked a piece out for himself. His piece was the smallest piece and was an old man. Shadou picked one that was of a tall man with big muscled. "Alright Naruto is the Hokage, I'm the Tsuchikage, and Shadou is the Raikage. Let's get started."

The three of them played the game late into the night with Jingure arriving later picking a robe covered piece and joining a new game. Kuzuri won the first game based in Earth country, Shadou the second based in Water country, and Jingure the third game based in Sand country. "I wanna win a game." Naruto pouted.

"Naruto, once you play this game enough you will mop the floor with everyone else. You just need some time to learn all the facts. How come you don't use the info cards that you purchase?" Jingure asked.

"I don't know how to read.." The boy muttered.

"Well I have tomorrow off, so I'll come by and teach you how to okay?" Jingure told him. The boy nodded his head and smiled at the woman he called his aunt.

"That would be awesome! I always wanted to learn how to read. But while the people at the orphanage taught the other kids they said I didn't deserve to learn how to." The boy trailed off.

"Well no worries my little oi." Jingure said putting an arm around the boy. "Auntie Aka is going to take care of you." She placed her hand on the board game and changed the map to the of Fire country. "Now let's play one more game before I leave. It's getting late and I'm sure your dad wants to get you a proper meal before bed time." Kuzuri nodded at this as Shadou redistributed the game money. The last game went by quickly with Jingure winning but Naruto coming in a close second.

"I thought you didn't know how to read Naruto." Shadou grumbled about coming in last.

"I can't, but I would always have the old man tell me stories about Konoha and other famous places." He replied with a big smile. "I need to know everything about the country if I'm going to be Hokage."

Jingure stood up and gave Naruto a hug. "Well you will be a great Hokage if you know this much already. And just wait until you learn everything about the world, no one will be a better Kage than you."

"You really think so?" He asked.

"I know so." She said. She walked to the door with Shadou following after giving Naruto a big hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow to play one of those other games with you Naruto-kun." She told him.

"And I'll see you tomorrow to start teaching you okay Naruto?" Jingure said.

"Tomorrow's going to be great I can't wait!" The boy cheered as he waved good bye. When the women left Kuzuri had Naruto help him put the game away.

"That last game was great squirt I'm impressed." Kuzuri said as he walked into the kitchen and pulled two pieces of meat out of the fridge. "I have a deal for you. If you win a game of that monopoly I will take you out to ramen the next day."

"Sweet! I can't wait to learn how to read so that I can get ramen every day." Naruto cheered.

"Now we wont play the game every day; just once a week." Naruto pouted and grumbled at this. "If you try to learn to much in one day you won't keep any of that information." Kuzuri said as he started preparing dinner. "When you learn how to read I'll start teaching you little facts okay? That should help you out a bit during the game."

"Okay oto-san." Naruto whined. He then perked up. "When I learn to read, can you teach me about Lightning country? The Raikage sounds like a cool guy."

"Whatever you want kiddo." Kuzuri said. A quick fir jutsu and Kuzuri had dinner ready. He put a plate in front of Naruto who scrunched his nose at it.

"What is this? It doesn't look nearly as good as ramen." He asked poking the slab of meat with a fork.

"It's a venison flank, a baked potato with sour cream and butter, some vegetables, a piece of bread, and some milk to drink." Kuzuri said as he sat down at the table across from Naruto with a plate and a bottle.

"What's in that bottle? Can I have some? I don't want milk." Naruto told him.

"This is beer;, and no you can't have some it's not for kids. It's a grown up drink. And if you drink milk you will grow bigger." He said. "It's not up for debate. Eat all of it or I cancel one of your play dates with Sachiko." Naruto's eyes widened and he quit complaining. He cut off a piece of the meat and tasted it slowly.

"Wow this is really good." He exclaimed and quickly tried it all. "All of this is really good. I didn't know there was good food besides ramen out there." He said as he quickly ate it all. He looked at Kuzuri and held his plate up. "Do you have anymore?"

Kuzuri chuckled as he got up and took Naruto's plate. He cooked another steak quickly and put the same things back on Naruto's plate placing it in front of him. "That's all you get Naruto." The boy nodded and ate his food at a slower pace. When he finished he slouched in his chair.

"I'm full now oto-san." Naruto said. Kuzuri finished his food and drank his beer.

"That's because you ate slow. If you eat fast you can eat a lot of food. But if you eat slower you get full quicker." He told him. He stood up and took Naruto's empty plate and glass along with his into the kitchen putting them in the sink. He turned back around and saw Naruto asleep in his chair. He picked the boy up and put him in his bedroom tucking him in. He went to close the door and looked back at the boy. "I guess it won't be completely horrible to raise a kid." He turned the light off and retired to his own room.

Naruto ran down an alley with terror in his eyes. A roar from behind him caused him to run faster. The walls started to warp until they disappeared and were replaced by bars. He ran into a dead end that was more bars; looking up he saw even more bars. All he could do was turn around. When he turned around he saw only darkness with two tiny red dots that were moving closer to him. The closer they got the bigger they got. He could barely make out an enormous form in the darkness looking down on him. Another roar came from the creature and a large fanged mouth came crashing down upon him.

With a scream the blonde boy sat up in the bed he was in covered in a cold sweat. His bedroom door slammed open and the light came on revealing Kuzuri standing there with his blades extended. He was looking around the room with a scowl on his face. "What happened squirt are you okay?" He asked finding no intruder. He put the blades away and sat down on the boy's bed as he lunged and hugged the man.

"It was just a really bad dream oto-san." The boy said with tears coming to his eyes. "I was trapped in a cage and a giant creature tried to eat me." Kuzuri started rubbing the boys back.

"It's okay Naruto, I won't let anything get you if I can help it." The boy visibly relaxed at that. "Are you okay or do you want me to stay up with you?"

"I'm okay, I'll go back to sleep now. I don't think I'll have that dream again." The man nodded and walked for the door. He was about to turn the lights out when Naruto called to him. "Oto-san, how did you get those claws?" Kuzuri just looked at the boy.

"That's a story for another day kiddo. When the time is right I'll tell you okay?" The boy just nodded. "Good-night Naruto."

"Good-night daddy." With that Kuzuri turned the light out and shut the door.

A/N: Yeah I made Sasuke a girl in this story. It's all for good reason no worries. As you can see I also somewhat laid out what Naruto would be going through at the academy. Well everyone read and I hope you enjoyed it.

Translations:

Ema Shimo- Emma Frost

Nii- Brother

Oto- Father

Shinjin- Rookie

Oba- Aunt

Oi- Nephew

Sekushi na Shimo- Sexy Frost


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry about the long wait to those who were excited for this chapter. Been extremely busy with work, and I couldn't quite decide how to go about this chapter. This chapter is more development between Naruto and various characters, and even a little between Kuzuri and a certain character. I hope you enjoy reading it

/\/\

(One Year Later)

A six year old boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes laughed as he ran from a girl his age with long black hair and black eyes who was laughing as well. She caught up to him and slapped his back. "You're it Naruto!' She shouted as she ran the opposite direction from him. Said boy turned around and quickly chased after her. They ran past an eighteen year old boy who smirked at the two playing. Their game continued for fifteen minutes before they both lay down on their backs in the grass.

"You're fast Sachiko-chan." Naruto said breathing heavily. "You're gonna be a really fast ninja when you get older."

"Thank you Naruto-kun." She replied breathing a little easier than Naruto. She glanced over at the boy who was watching them. "Do you think I can be as good of a ninja as Itachi?"

"Of course you will be!" Naruto told her. He sat up and looked at Itachi before looking at Sachiko. "I bet that you will be even better than Itachi one day."

"Do you really think so?" She asked blushing a little.

"I know so." He replied with a big smile. "If I didn't know this I couldn't make you my right-hand woman when I become hokage." She smiled at his statement. "I can't wait to start training once I turn seven." He said laying back down. "I'm jealous that you're part of a clan that starts training you once you turn six. I know you just turn six a month ago, but I already feel like you have a huge jump on me. I can't wait three months to start." Naruto pouted.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. You have your dad, Jingure-sama, and Shadou-sama who said they are going to train you hard when you turn seven. And when the academy opens up you are going to only get stronger!" She told him. She looked at her brother and then at her feet. "And training with a clan isn't as great as it seems."

"What do you mean? You have everyone trying to make you better. Plus you get to learn all kinds of cool techniques." Naruto said. "Dad, Aka-san, and Shadou-oba-chan don't know much ninja stuff. They told me so themselves." He said looking around. "My only hope I get for techniques is if the old man and my dad's friend in ANBU can teach me a thing or two. Dad said though that he doesn't want me to count on learning many techniques. He wants me to master what I learn before learning something new." He crossed his arms across his chest. "How am I supposed to get super awesome if I don't learn a lot?'

Sachiko giggled at the pout on his face. "Don't worry Naruto; I'll sneak you a technique or two when I learn one." She wasn't expecting the tackle that came from the blonde boy next to her.

"I knew it was a good idea to make you my best friend!" He shouted happily. Itachi smiled at the side and started walking over to them. "If I learn something really cool I'll teach it to you to." He stopped hugging her and backed away. "I promise from this day forward; once I start training I will always be there to help you and just be there for you." He said as he held his pinky out.

"I promise to help and be there for you to Naruto-kun." Sachiko responded and linked her pinky with his.

"There it's official. You're never going to get rid of me now." He said with a big smile on his face.

"I don't think she was intending to Naruto-san." Itachi said as he stopped in front of the two. "Come on Sachiko, it's time for your training session with the clan." The girl frowned and stood up. "Tag along Naruto; your apartment is on the way to the clan grounds." The boy hopped up and smiled. The three of them left the small playground with the two children chatting the whole time. They arrived at Naruto's apartment to find a large furred man talking to Kuzuri.

"It was fun playing with you today Sachiko-chan." Naruto said giving her a quick hug. "You better get real strong during your training so that I can catch up to you. I can't have a slacker best friend." He told her with a smile as he ran up the stairs. He reached the top and waved at her. "See you Wednesday!"

"Let's go Sachiko, you know how father gets if you are a little late." The girl nodded as they quickly walked away. She looked down nervously at her hands. "Don't worry about training; I know you want to make your boyfriend proud. I'll even help train you after if you want."

"Thanks Itachi; you're the best." They kept walking down the street before she realized what he said. "Naruto's not my boyfriend." She shouted with a blush on her face. They turned a corner and disappeared with Itachi chuckling at his sister.

"Oto-san!" Naruto yelled as he ran and hugged the man. Kuzuri chuckled and ruffled his hair. Naruto turned around and his jaw dropped as he looked at the man. "Whoa, who's Fuwafuwa-san?" Naruto asked looking at Kuzuri and pointing at the man. The man's eyebrow rose and Kuzuri just started laughing.

"That's great Naruto." Kuzuri said as he composed himself. "Why don't you tell him who you are, Fluffy?" He said still chuckling.

The man stood up straight and brushed his chest off. Naruto's eyes widened as the man easily towered over him, and was even taller than his dad, when he stood up straight. He extended his hand towards Naruto. "My name, dear boy, is Shishi and I'm an old friend of your fathers." Naruto slowly shook the enormous hand in front of him. When he let go the man slouched back down resting his knuckles on the ground. "Ah much better." He looked at the boy. "So you're the little bundle of energy that Jingure and Shadou just go on about?" Naruto nodded his head. "I don't see that problem; you don't seem all that energetic in my opinion." Kuzuri groaned and Naruto smiled widely at the man. Shishi got a slight chill up his spine looking at the boys' smile. He looked up at Kuzuri who had a slight frown on his face. "I take it that was a mistake to say?" His answer was the man simply nodding.

"I know you have that meeting with Aka-oba-chan and the old man; so instead of Shadou-oba-chan babysitting can Fuwafuwa-san do it?" Naruto asked Kuzuri with pleading eyes. Kuzuri smirked at the question and looked at the large man.

"I bet he would love to babysit you tonight Naruto." He told the boy whose smile got even bigger if that was possible. "Wouldn't you Shishi?" The man chuckled nervously.

"While I would be honored to do so; I'm afraid that I must go speak with Ibiki later tonight about an urgent security matter." He responded.

"Nonsense Shishi." Kuzuri said as he walked over and slapped the man on the shoulder. "I'm sure you don't want me to tell Jingure and Shadou how you don't think their dear nephew is worthy of your time?" He whispered to the man who just shook his head. "Good it's settled than. Naruto, my friend here is going to be babysitting you tonight. I'll go tell Shadou the change in plans. Knowing her; she will end up coming to spend time with you anyways." Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically. "Why don't you and Shishi go into the apartment and get to know each other?" The boy grabbed Shishi's arm and dragged him into the apartment. Kuzuri chuckled and walked down the hallway a couple doors and knocked on one. A brunette woman opened the door and raised an eyebrow at Kuzuri.

"What is it now Kuzuri?" She didn't see Naruto and her heart started beating faster. "Did something happened to Naruto? My go Kuzuri you barely have the kid for a year and something already happens to him." Kuzuri stopped her rampage by placing his hand over her mouth.

"Geeze Shadou; you always overreact like this when I come to tell you something and Naruto isn't with me." Kuzuri said. "The squirt is fine; he is in the apartment talking to Shishi." Shadou calmed down at this and Kuzuri removed his hand.

"Sorry Kuzuri you know how protective me and Jingure are of the kid." Kuzuri shuddered as he remembered what Jingure did when Naruto scrapped his knee open playing with Sachiko a month after adopting him.

"Yeah don't remind me about that. I thought she was going to put me in a coma." He said. "Well I just came by to tell you that Shishi very kindly offered to watch Naruto tonight while Jingure and myself talk to the Hokage about what Chuunin, Jounin and maybe an ANBU or two to teach classes at the academy." Shadou pouted and crossed her arms.

"I thought it was my turn to watch him. Jingure always gets to spend time with him. My one night to babysit him and you give it to the giant teddy bear."

"Well if you must know. Shishi opened his mouth and said he didn't see why you and Jingure always have a problem watching him, and that he didn't seem that energetic." A look of understanding crossed the woman's face. "And what are you complaining about not babysitting him for? Whenever you don't have a mission you're over there spending time with him." The woman's pout didn't leave her face though. "I told him though that you would probably go by to spend time with him; I'm sure Shishi will need you to save him from the little menace." She smiled at this.

"He can be a tricky one to watch if you don't know what you're doing. Alright I guess I'm okay with Shishi watching him." Kuzuri nodded and turned to walk back to his apartment.

"Do go by there if you want; you know how much he loves his Oba-chan." The woman smiled. "I couldn't keep you guys away from each other if I ever tried. You would just walk right in no matter what, and I have a feeling the kid would make my life a living hell." She laughed.

"Okay I get it. I'll swing by around his dinner time. That's probably when he is going to give Shishi the most trouble." Kuzuri nodded and hurried to save the man from his rambunctious son. When he walked in he saw Shishi with his head on the kitchen table and Naruto pestering the man with questions.

"Naruto leave the poor guy alone." The boy pouted but walked away from the man. "Why don't you get a couple of your games out to play with Shishi? He is really smart and could probably teach you a couple of things." The boys pout was replaced by a smile as he ran and opened up a drawer to a side table in the living room and started pulling out some different games. Kuzuri walked to the fridge and pulled out two beers. He sliced the tops off of both of them and handed one to Shishi who just looked at it. "There's an entire twelve pack left in there. You are free to help yourself to half of that while you are watchin the squirt."

"I don't drink though." Shishi replied as he tentatively took the beer from Kuzuri and placed it down. Kuzuri just chuckled at the man.

"Have you ever seen Jingure or Shadou drink before?" Shishi shook his head as his answer. "Both of them babysat the squirt about two weeks after I adopted him because I had to talk to the hokage. I was only gone for a couple hours, but when I came back Shadou had accessed my hard liquor cabinet and the two of them killed two bottles of my whiskey." Shishi's jaw dropped. "You can't handle the kid by yourself. You're going to need another person and a lot of alcohol. Don't worry about drinking in front of the kid. He thinks drunk people are funny." Kuzuri looked at the clock and quickly finished his beer. "Well I gotta get to the Hokage's office; Shadou will be here around seven to help you feed the kid. Whatever you do; don't let him talk you into going to ramen. Only if he beats you at one game of Elemental Country Monopoly. And if he does beat you at it, it's only one game he beats you at. Shadou will give you all the details when she gets here." Shishi just nodded his head and Kuzuri waved to him. "I know you're going to have a lot of fun bub." With that said Kuzuri walked out the door to his apartment as Naruto set down a shogi board.

"Have you ever beat my dad at shogi?" The blonde boy asked him as he sat across from the blue haired man.

"You're father has never beat me actually. Why do you ask?" He responded as he took a sip of the beer.

"Well, he made a deal with me that if I beat him at a game of shogi than I get ramen." Naruto said as he pulled the board out. "He teaches me certain moves, but nothing that I can really use to beat him. Now I have an offer for you." Shishi raised an eyebrow at the phrase. "If you teach me a lot about shogi; then I won't make your job of watching me difficult." The man eyed the boy carefully and took a large drink of his beer.

"I'm not quite sure I want to learn how you could make it difficult for me. So how about this deal instead." Shishi finished his drink. "I'll teach you as much as I can tonight, but I won't be able to teach you everything I know. So every time I watch you; I'll teach you three strategic moves that not only can you use in a shogi match, but that you can also use when you become a ninja." Naruto sat there thinking.

"How is a shogi move going to help me when I become a ninja?" Naruto asked the man.

"When you become a Chuunin ranked ninja or higher, you are tasked with ordering a squad of ninja yourself. These moves I will teach you can be used when giving orders should you become a leader of a squadron." Shishi set up his side of the board as he continued speaking. "Also, a hokage is tasked with ordering every ninja in the village. So I will also teach you some strategies for that once you get better. And if you ever beat me, I'll take you out to ramen; my treat." Naruto got a look of determination at the mention of Hokage and ramen.

"You got a deal Fuwafuwa." Naruto said with a smile on his face. He hurriedly set up his side of the board. "How are we going to do this?"

"We will just go through the game like normal. I will be using the strategies on my side of the board and then teach you how to use it yourself. I'll make the first move and I'll be correcting you if you make a wrong move and tell you the proper one to make in that situation. Than when I teach you how to use my strategy I'll teach you the proper counter strategy. And finally when I finish going through one strategy I'll teach you how it works in a battlefield scenario." Naruto nodded his head.

"While everyone else is learning cool clan techniques; I'm going to become super smart in the field." Naruto said with a smile.

"If this keeps me from getting a serious headache from watching you; then I am all for teaching you kid. And maybe once you get in the academy if you are catching on real fast I'll teach you some useful things." Naruto's smile widened. He looked at the board and saw Shishi already made his move. "The battle field moves fast, so I'm going to be moving fast. Don't worry; you'll catch on Naruto." The boy scrunched his face together and made a move. Shishi smiled and made his next move just as fast as the first.

"I'm gonna be the one with the headache after tonight." Shishi laughed as the boy made another move.

(With the hokage.)

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk looking at Kuzuri and Jingure. "So as we all know the new academy is opening up at the end of the year. Since you two will be the head instructors we need to talk about some things." The hokage leaned back in his chair before continuing. "We already have forty-three children signed up for the first year, including all the clan heirs. How should we split this up?"

"Well hokage-sama I recommend we split them in half. You already have information on all the kids who don't have it. So put them in different classes. It would be much more beneficial for them to be specifically taught by us if IT actually surfaces during the course of their education." The hokage wrote down a couple quick notes. "Alright we got that set up. Any other suggestions about the academy."

"Yeah I have one." Kuzuri said

"What is it?" He asked.

"I recommend that at the end of the year every instructor who teaches something specific turn in an end of the year report on every student to me and Jingure. Than we go through them and if we decide to a student would have to go through the previous year again."

"Why would you want 0something like that?"

"It's just in case they aren't grasping what they are being taught. If it's just one area than they would just have to go through additional training after or during the summer."

"That seems reasonable." Hiruzen said writing it down. "Anything else?"

"I would like to request that in their final year at the academy they be allowed to do d-rank missions as part of class assignments." Jingure stated. "It will start them off on understanding the importance of teamwork. And provide them with a very small base income with which they may purchase ninja tools and supplies for when they graduate." The hokage nodded his head and wrote that down.

"I wish you two were around when the first academy opened up. Now, are there any other ideas?" Both of them shook their heads. "Alright, I have one more thing for you two to do." The hokage pulled out a large stack of folders. "These folders contain information on all active chuunin and jounin who have stated they would be willing to teach at the academy. I want you to pick out the teaching staff for the other class and the ones who will help with your class." Jingure nodded her head and picked up the stack. "Before you leave I will be meeting with an associate of mine to discuss our shinobi forces. I would like you two to stay and listen in."

"Sure, I can make Shishi sweat it out with Naruto at home for a while longer."

"You left Shishi alone with Naruto?" Jingure asked. Her response was Kuzuri nodding his head. "That poor man never stood a chance." The hokage chuckled as there was a knock on his door and a man walked in. He appeared to be around Hiruzen's age. He was shorter than him with a bandage around his head covering his right eye and he was missing his right arm. Sarutobi made a couple hand signs and seals on the wall glowed before disappearing.

"I am sure you two know who this man is."

"Yes, he is Shimura Danzou, elder of the council and your greatest rival in all things relating to the village. He is also the leader of the Root ANBU."

"You are correct in all things except for the rival aspect. That is just a facade put on by us to the council. He is my best friend and top advisor in all things, dating all the way back to our genin days."

"Yes but we need to get down to business. I have root business to take care of." The newcomer said sitting down next to Kuzuri.

"As we all know, the quality of our ninja has dropped considerably." Danzou scoffed.

"I have been telling you this for years at council meetings. One of my Root ANBU could take three regular ANBU just because I train them better."

"What about the lack of emotions in battle?" Jingure asked.

"That's just in battle. Despite what people think, my root do have personal lives. Families, friends, they are taught that in battle emotions keep you from thinking clearly. There is more to my training than just that though. But why do you finally agree with me Hiruzen?"

"I have agreed with you the past three years. I just figured with this time of peace it wasn't required to strengthen our forces. Information from Jiraiya's network gives me reason to believe we will need to start again. That is why I have called you in today Danzou. I want you to help me develop a system of training." Danzou smirked and pulled out a small notebook.

"I would be honored on one condition."

"What's that condition Danzou?"

"My organization has a total green light to run its operations and recruitment process."

"Agreed. I will make a deal with you in the recruitment department. Any student who fails the graduation exam you can recruit and any orphan age eight and older. They must consent to it 100 percent though."

"I accept your terms." The hokage nodded and filled out a document before he signed it and handed it to Danzou. The man smiled and put the paper into a pocket on the inside of his robes. "Now let's start with the academy."

"Sorry Danzou but the academy is under the supervision of my elites." The man frowned but nodded.

"I at least know your elites are competent enough to teach them." Kuzuri grunted at the comment. "Fine, the genin under their jounin instructors. Every month of active duty each genin team will be given an evaluation of their team skills and individual skills. If their level isn't what we feel it should be, than we administer a new training regiment for the instructor to teach them. Before a genin team can participate in the chuunin exams they must have a minimum of one year active duty and five C-rank missions under their belt. Genin teams will instantly be given an evaluation upon request from the jounin instructor to go on a c-rank. If they can't pass they won't go on the mission." The hokage was writing all this down. He pulled out a stamp and stamped the document.

"Now onto the chuunin. Chuunin with less than two years experience as a chuunin will be placed into teams of three. Their growth is dependent upon themselves. They will be given evaluations every two months and if there are no significant improvements than we will provide a training regiment as well. They will need to do two c-rank missions a month receiving an instant evaluation before their very first one as well." Again the hokage wrote all this down. "If a chuunin wishes to participate in a jounin examination the individual must finish three b-rank missions and pass an evaluation."

The hokage stamped this document as well and set it to the side. "And now for the jounin. They will be required to do a b-rank mission every month. Either with a squad or by themselves. Training is up to themselves as well. Their evaluations will be once every three months with being given a training regiment if they aren't up to our standards. At request of their first b-rank they will be given an instant evaluation. At the end of every year a squad of three-five jounin will be given an a-rank mission." The hokage wrote al this down and stamped it as well.

"As for the ANBU; I will have to return later. I am just going to give you my ANBU training program for Root." The hokage nodded.

"How are you going to enforce the training regiments for the ninja when they train by themselves?" Kuzuri asked.

"It's quite simple actually; I will have a root member supervise those who need to train further."

"Can you really spare that many people of your forces?" Jingure questioned. Danzou smirked at the woman.

"Root is far larger than anyone will ever know." He stood up and moved towards the door. "Hiruzen, I will send one of my subordinates later with the ANBU training program."

"Alright Danzou, thank you very much for your assistance."

"Anything I can do for an old friend." With that being said the man walked out of the office.

"What does he mean root is far larger than anyone knows hokage-sama?" Jingure asked.

"Danzou started the root forty years ago when I became hokage. He took in orphans, he convinced parents to send their children into his program, and even some missing nine; all from day one. And after the kyuubi attack there was unfortunately a large number of orphans from ninja and civilian families. I would say his own personal force has two hundred active members and about fifty retired ones who train recruits." Both Jingure's and Kuzuri's eyes widened at that information. "But that just a rough estimate based off of the last force count he gave me last year. With this new deal his forces will get even larger as I only allowed him to recruit those that were twelve or older. I knew that if I didn't allow his organization to recruit freely he wouldn't give us all he did. He may be my good friend but he is still a very fickle man." Kuzuri nodded his head. "Alright, well that is all I have for you two today. I'll give you both until the end of the week to pick out the teachers. Feel free to seek them out and interview them is you want to." Hiruzen grabbed the papers that he wrote all of Danzou's suggestions on. "I'm going to have to call a council meeting and inform them of these changes."

"Have fun with that old man." Kuzuri said with a chuckle. "I know that will go over smoothly."

"Well no matter how much they complain I have final say in all things that deal with the shinobi forces."

"Well me and Kuzuri will leave you to your business hokage-sama." Jingure said. She left the room and was followed by Kuzuri. Once the door was shut the hokage got out of his seat and walked over to the window.

"Report." He said gazing upon his village. A figure came stepped out of the shadows in a corner.

"It is just as we feared." A masculine voice said. "The Uchiha clan is planning to overthrow the council and take over the village."

"Do you have a time period when this will happen? the hokage asked.

"Yes, the planned date is the week before the new academy opens. They will strike during the night." The hokage sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"This poses a serious problem. How do you feel we should handle this?"

"Do you wish for my honest opinion hokage-sama?"

"Yes."

"I feel the only way to handle this issue is to eliminate the entire clan."

"That is a very bold suggestion."

"It would be the best way in my opinion. You can't eliminate just key people as they may have participants hidden until the day. I recommend eliminating all members age nine and up hokage-sama. That way the village will still have Uchiha infants. If you were to put together a task force I could lead them into the compound. I also would take the blame and be labeled a criminal by the village." The hokage waved a hand in dismissal.

"That is a very well thought out recommendation and all but I can't just throw you to the wolves. I happen to agree with you with the way to solve it though; how we carry it out depends on the other three village elders. I will call for you when we hold the meeting." The figure bowed.

"As you wish hokage-sama. I take my leave." The figure turned and walked to the door.

"You are one of my most loyal shinobi. We will figure this out. Have a good evening Itachi." The figure opened and vanished out of the office. "You think you can take my village from me Fugaku? Just wait until you see what will be banging on the door of your compound." His gaze hardened as he turned from the window. "Looks like the 'Professor' is going to have to resurface to keep this village alive." He sat down in his chair and opened a drawer pulling out an orange book. "In the mean time..." The secretary shook her head as she head giggling come from her boss's office.

Kuzuri and Jingure walked into his apartment and were shocked at what they saw. Naruto was sitting at the table with Shishi playing shogi. He wasn't running around, causing problems, or driving Shishi crazy. He was just sitting there focusing on the board. "Okay, Jingure, if you are planting a vision on my brain; this isn't funny." Kuzuri said. Naruto turned around and smiled at him.

"Hey dad! Fuwafuwa is teaching me cool shogi tricks so that I can beat you." He turned back around to look at the board and saw that Shishi had him beat. "what the-? How did you do that?" Naruto asked.

"What did I tell you Naruto? Shogi is like battle; you can't take your eyes off of your opponent for one second or it could end before you know it." The boy pouted and crossed his arms.

"No fair. They distracted me when they came in."

"Ah but there will be distractions all over the battlefield as well. You won't be able to complain if your opponent gets the best of you. And congratulations." Shishi chuckled at the confused look on the boys face. "You have successfully learned the first strategy and counter I am going to be teaching you." The boy cheered and turned around looking at Kuzuri again.

"I challenge you to a shogi match." He said with a smile. Kuzuri chuckled and sat down in the seat Shishi had just vacated.

"Are you sure about this squirt?"

"I'm positive. I'm going to beat you and get ramen."

"It's amazing that boys drive to ramen." Shishi said standing next to Jingure who just laughed. "I swear, you could teach that boy anything if you promised that he could get ramen if successful." The match started and Naruto started implementing the strategy. Kuzuri smirked and let him do so for a couple turns.

"You picked up on that strategy pretty quick Naruto."

"Well Shishi has been drilling it in my head for an hour so I would certainly hope so."

"Maybe you ought to learn more techniques though."

"Why?" Naruto looked at the board and saw that he was beat. The boy grumbled and pouted. "I'm never going to beat you."

"Now don't say that." Kuzuri said kneeling next to Naruto. "I have played against that strategy thousands of times. You can't just take a strategy, copy it, and then expect to beat someone with it. You must make it your own. Add your own individual twists and moves. If you were to just learn a fighting style and expect to beat everyone with it; eventually you will fight someone who has fought it before and they will be able to beat it." Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "That's my boy." Kuzuri said ruffling his hair. "Now where's your auntie?"

"She went home. She said something about seeing the impossible when she walked in and went to take a nap." Shishi told him. 'Kuzuri laughed and stood up.

"We'll squirt, how about some ramen to reward your hard work?" Naruto instantly ran over and jumped into Jingure's arms.

"Okay, but Fuwafuwa-san and Aka-oba-chan have to come to."

"Anything for you Naruto." Jingure said kissing his cheek.

"I'm never going to get rid of the 'Fuwafuwa' nickname am I?" Shishi asked as they all walked out the apartment.

"Nope, once Naruto sets his sights on you; you're never getting rid of him. Welcome to the family...fluffy." Kuzuri said chuckling. They got Shadou out of her apartment and the five of them left for Ichiraku's ramen stand.

They arrived at Ichiraku's in the middle of dinner. There were about six other people sitting at the bar either eating or waiting for their food. A family of three blondes was among those waiting. The man appeared to be in his early to mid thirties with his wife a couple years younger. The third member was a girl Naruto's age and she wore a purple shirt with black pants. The man was the only one wearing a Konoha headband. "I can't wait for the new academy to open daddy. I'm going to be a great ninja just like you!" The girl said between bites of food.

"That's good Ino-chan. I have no doubt you will be a fantastic ninja one day. You are already taking to our clans pre-training very well." The girl smiled at the man.

"Ah Inoichi-san how are you?" The man turned around and noticed the group walking to the bar and sitting down.

"Jingure-san, I am great. Just enjoying a relaxing evening out with the family. What brings you out to Ichiraku's?" Jingure ruffled Naruto's hair as he sat down next to Ino. The boy pouted and she giggled.

"Just taking my dear nephew here to get some food. The boy can't get enough of this place. Claims it's the food of the gods or something." She said. Inoichi chuckled at that.

"Well I must admit; I was never too fond of ramen before coming here. This place makes it very good."

"That's because Ayame-nee-chan and Teuchi are the best!" Naruto said.

"I was wondering when you would come visit me Naruto." Ayame said walking out of the back. "We have missed your constantly being around here."

"I'm sorry. I would come here more often but my grumpy dad won't let me when I want to." Kuzuri smacked Naruto in the head.

"Well excuse me for wanting you to have some healthy eating habits. My son isn't going to be a stunted little squirt for his entire life if I have anything to do about it." Inoichi laughed at the interaction between the two. He noticed a large man sitting in-between Shadou and Jingure.

"Ah Shishi, I hardly noticed you sitting there."

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto shouted. "Fuwafuwa is the biggest guy I have ever seen." Kuzuri smacked him again. "What have I told you about interrupting people and treating your elders with respect?" Naruto grumbled and pouted crossing his arms. A small finger poked his bottom lip that was sticking out. Naruto swatted at the hand and looked at the girl next to him who was still smiling.

"My mom always tells me if I make a face enough; mine will eventually stay like that. So you shouldn't pout so much." She told him.

"Everyone in my family picks on me though. I can't help it." Ino looked at the four people Naruto came in with.

"Are they all your family?"

"Yeah they are. The farthest one away is Shadou-oba-chan, than there is Uncle Fuwafuwa-san, than Aka-oba-chan, and my dad Kuzuri."

"That is quite the assorted family."

"Well I just adopted Fuwafuwa today, so he is new."

"You adopted him?" Inoichi asked.

"Yeah I sure did!" Inoichi laughed out loud at this.

"Well that guy is my dad, that's my mom next to him, and my name is Ino." The girl said.

"My name is Naruto." He said sticking his hand out. "It's nice to meet you and make a new friend." Ino giggled and shook his hand. "Hey, do you want to play with me and Sachiko-chan sometime?"

"Sachiko? As in Uchiha Sachiko?"

"Yeah that's her. She was my first friend and we play together all the time. I'm sure she would love to make a new friend! We play with Shino and dog breath every now and then to." Ino turned around and looked at her dad.

"Can I daddy please?" She activated the infamous puppy dog look.

"Sure you can Ino."

"Yay! Well Ino-chan we play on Wednesdays and Sundays. When Itachi picks me up I will have him take us to you to." The girl nodded as Ayame came up and took Naruto's families order.

"What's this Naruto-kun? Did you go and get yourself another girlfriend? How will Sachiko feel about this?" Naruto and Ino both blushed.

"Shadou, how many times do I have to tell you; Sachiko isn't my girlfriend?"

"Oh? Then I take it this one is your girlfriend than?" Both of their blushes deepened at this.

"We are just friend's oba-chan." Naruto said his blush going down. All the grownups laughed at the blushing duo. Naruto put his head on the counter.

"Grownups suck." He muttered.

"Is that how you really feel Naruto? And to think; tomorrow I was going to take you to see Dr. Shimo and maybe start training you." Kuzuri said. Naruto sat up quickly with an expectant look in his eyes.

"I was just kidding dad. Grownups are the greatest!"

"It's funny what the squirt will agree to with the right motivation."

"It's not my fault I haven't seen kaa-san in forever."

"Naruto, it's only been a week." Kuzuri muttered.

"That's still forever!" He said back.

"Dr. Shimo? As in the Hokage's personal doctor?"

"Yeah the one and the same."

"So how did you end up getting together with her Kuzuri?" Inoichi asked. Kuzuri choked on his water at the question.

"We are not dating, nor do I have any desire to date that woman." Naruto looked at him confused.

"But dad, one time when you were drinking I heard you say how smart and beauti-" Naruto's sentence was cut off by Kuzuri's hand.

"Kids don't know what they are talking about. Anyways, the good doctor is also Naruto's personal physician as well. And she views the squirt here as her son." Inoichi nodded his head ignoring Naruto's squirming to get his father's hand off of his mouth.

"I understand now." He looked and saw that his family was done eating. "Well Kuzuri-san we must be leaving now." Inoichi said paying the bill and standing up. "I will see you around." He looked at Naruto whom Kuzuri just removed his hand. "And I will see you on Wednesday." Naruto smiled as Ino and her mother followed Inoichi out the stand. He turned back around and glared at his dad.

"What the heck was all that for? I was just saying how-" his sentence was cut off again; this time by Kuzuri smacking him in the back of the head.

"You shouldn't be gossiping is why. Especially in a ninja village. Any piece of information, true or false, can be used against someone." Naruto pouted but nodded in understanding. Kuzuri started eating his food.

"So, Kuzuri, if you wish to date my subordinate her favorite food happens to be sushi." Kuzuri choked on his ramen and the three other adults laughed at the man.

"A bunch of fucking jokesters." A jar was held in front of his face. He sighed and put a couple of bills in it.

"What's that?" Shishi asked. Naruto put the jar back in his pocket where it came from.

"That's the cussing jar the kid created. Every time I cuss I have to put some money into it." Jingure chuckled at this.

"It's a good technique." She looked at Naruto.

"I'll tell you whenever he cusses and you're not around okay?"

"Thanks oba-chan!" Kuzuri groaned and muttered something under his breath only to have the jar pulled out again. He placed a few more bills into it grumbling the whole time.

"What are you going to use the money for?" Shadou asked.

"It's a secret!" Naruto said with a smile.

"The squirt won't even tell me." Kuzuri told them.

"It's something really cool though." Naruto shouted.

"Probably a year supply of ramen." Naruto gave his dad a strange look.

"It's much cooler than ramen." Everyone in the stand stopped and stared at Naruto in shock.

"What's the big deal?" Shishi asked.

"Naruto is obsessed with ramen. He thinks that it's the greatest thing ever. For him to think something is cooler is damn near impossible." Kuzuri said. He scowled as he put more money in the jar.

"Well that jar is almost full so maybe we will see what it is soon."

"Nope, the squirt has filled up the jar four other times. So he is saving up for something big." They finished eating their food with a small amount of conversation. They arrived back to the apartment complex and everyone went to their apartments.

"Wait, Fuwafuwa-san lives here to?"

"Yes I do Naruto; I live in the single room at the top of the building."

"Cool! I'm going to come up there and learn strategies from you when I want to." Shishi chuckled at that.

"Well if I don't have a mission or anything than I would be glad to have your company. If I will be gone though I will put a note on the door for you."

"Okay." Naruto hugged the man's led. "Bye uncle Fuwafuwa!" Naruto shouted and ran inside.

"Well this is a very interesting development." Shishi said.

"Yeah, the kid finds ways to worm into your heart doesn't he." Kuzuri told him.

"He most certainly does. Well my old friend; I am sure I will be seeing a lot more of you than usual now."

"You can count on that one bub. Have a good night."

"Likewise." With that said the two went to their respective apartments. When Kuzuri entered his apartment he was jumped by Naruto.

"Let's play monopoly!" Kuzuri chuckled.

"Alright Naruto, but just one game and then bed time." Naruto nodded excitedly and got the game out. "I get to choose the setting this time though. I am tired of constantly doing the fire nation." Naruto pouted but agreed. "Set up an entire world map. I am sure glad we taught you basic uses for your chakra." Naruto started to apply chakra to the board when all of a sudden electricity arched from his hand and struck the board. Naruto jumped back and stared in shock at the board than his hand. 'Kuzuri rushed over. "Are you okay squirt?" Naruto nodded his head.

"Yeah, what was that dad?"

"It must have just been some static electricity. Nothing to worry about." Naruto seemed to be relieved at that explanation. "Now how bout that game?" Naruto hopped up and ran over to the game with a smile. Kuzuri frowned slightly and walked over to the game. He put a smile on his face as he sat down on the couch across from Naruto.

(Next day)

Kuzuri woke up with a groan and walked out of his room into the kitchen. "Seven is way too early." He opened up his fridge and pulled out some things to make for breakfast. Naruto woke up and walked out of his room to a set table full of food. He put eggs, toast, sausage, and bacon onto his plate and he had a glass of orange juice. Kuzuri had a much larger pile of food and was drinking coffee as he read a newspaper. "We will go visit Ema when you are finished eating and all cleaned up." Kuzuri told him. They quickly finished eating and got ready for the day.

"So, what kind of training are we going to be doing today?" Naruto asked excitedly as they walked in the direction of the hospital.

"Oh, just some basic weight and cardio training. Nothing to strenuous." Kuzuri replied.

"I can't wait. I'm going to be the best!" Kuzuri chuckled as they arrived at the hospital. The woman behind the desk smiled at them.

"Hello Kuzuri-san, Naruto-kun. I take it you are here to see Dr. Shimo?"

"Yeah, is she free?"

"Yes she is. Go right on up." The two left the reception area and walked up the stairs to the top floor. They exited the stairwell into the long hallway and Naruto ran and disappeared into the office at the end. Kuzuri chuckled as he heard Naruto cheer and a woman scream. When he arrived at the office he saw the blonde doctor on the floor with Naruto sitting on her stomach smiling with papers littering the floors.

"So much for being one of the elite huh?" Kuzuri said with a smile.

"I swear, he is the quietest person even when he is running full speed. He will be quite the ninja." Ema stated as she got up. She picked the boy up in her arms hugging him tightly. "And how is my little Naruto-kun?" She asked.

"I'm great! Playing with Sachiko is a lot of fun, Fuwafuwa taught me cool shogi stuff that he says I can use when I become hokage, I made a new friend, and dad says he is going to start training me." He said excitedly.

"Sounds like you have had a very exciting week.". She sat down on her desk. "So who is this new friend you made?"

"Ino-chan! We met when me, dad, my oba-chans, and uncle Fuwafuwa went to ramen."

"Fuwafuwa? Who is that?" She asked looking at Kuzuri.

"The Hokage's strategist, Shishi." The woman nodded her head in understanding before she chuckled.

"You call him fluffy?"

"Well yeah, I mean he is covered in this totally cool blue fur!" She laughed at the exuberance the boy emitted when describing the man.

"So what is this, Ino-chan, like?"

"She is my age with blonde hair. She seems fun." The boy told her.

"Another girlfriend Naruto? Don't you think Sachiko will be, oh I don't know, jealous?"

"Not you to kaa-san. Shadou-oba-chan said the same thing last night." Naruto groaned out. "Why would she be jealous? She was fine with Kiba and Shino being our friends." Ema chuckled and shook her head.

"Girls are complicating creatures Naruto-kun. You will learn eventually." Naruto looked at her confused before shrugging his shoulders. "So what are you going to train him in Kuzuri?"

"Oh just the beginner stuff. Since he heals a lot faster his strength will increase a lot faster. So just some cardio and weight training."

"You're not going to make my boy a meathead are you?" She asked giving him a look.

"Absolutely not. Nothing like that. I'm just going to be giving him a physical advantage over the other kids at the academy since they have their clans or ninja relatives." She looked at him trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. A cough and knock at the door caused everyone to look and see the hokage standing there with a smile on his face.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"No not at all hokage-sama. How may I help you?"

"Well I was just coming in for my monthly check-up." Naruto squirmed out of his mother's arms and ran over hugging the hokage. "Ah Naruto my boy, how are things with you?"

"Things are great, I get to start training for the academy today."

"Well that is certainly exciting." He said as he picked Naruto up. "If you two don't mind; it's been a while since I have spent time with my grandson, may I borrow him for an hour or so?" "Go for it hokage. Take him for the entire morning if you want." The hokage chuckled.

"How about it Naruto? Want to help me do some work at the office?" The boy nodded excitedly. "Alright, give your dad a hug goodbye and we will leave." Naruto hopped down and hugged Kuzuri and than Ema.

"Bye, I'll see you for training dad!" "I will have him home after lunch." Hiruzen told Kuzuri.

"Alright, just make sure that he doesn't eat too much that he will puke when I train him." Naruto paled as the hokage walked down the hall with him chuckling.

"Bye Naruto, I love you!" Ema called after them.

"I love you to kaa-san." Naruto yelled back from atop the Hokage's shoulders. With that said the two disappeared into the stairwell. "That boy is something else." Ema mumbled to herself.

"He most certainly is." Kuzuri replied.

"How are things going with him by the way?"

"Things are good. He has his friends to play with. Once a week he stays the night at either Shadou's or Jingure's place. If he didn't get his weekend with you every month I have a feeling this would be terrible." Ema chuckled at the statement.

"Well you are doing something right." Kuzuri gave her a look telling her to go on. "When he is over at my place there is no stopping him from ranting and raving about his super cool dad. So I guess you can't be all that bad if he has that kind of reaction." Kuzuri smiled.

"Well I am awful fond of the kid myself so he has a good effect on me to."

"That's a good thing though." They stood in an awkward silence for a minute or so. "Say what are you doing tonight?" Kuzuri asked.

"Well I get off work around four and I thankfully don't have any duties with the hokage this week. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would want to go out to sushi with me? It's Shadou's night with Naruto and I don't want to sit at home alone." Ema smiled at the man.

"I would be happy to. I love sushi after all. And maybe I can find out why Naruto thinks you're so great." She said with a smirk.

"Alright, great." Kuzuri replied.

"You can pick me up from my place at seven." Ema wrote on a piece of paper. "You always drop Naruto off here on the weekend so here is my address." Kuzuri looked at the info and pocketed it.

"I will see you at seven."

"See you then." Ema told him. Kuzuri walked out of her office and quickly out of the hospital. He made it back to his apartment before he frowned. He walked up to the top level of the building and knocked on the lone door. Shishi opened the door and raised a furred eyebrow at him.

"How can I help you?" He asked.

"I have a problem bub. I have a date tonight; I think. And I haven't been on one in forever so I am a little lost." Kuzuri replied.

"You're telling me that you came here seeking dating advice from a man covered in blue fur?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Shishi chuckled and stepped away from his door.

"Come in, we have plenty of work to do."

Jingure walked into the hospital and bypassed the secretary going into the stairwell and up to the top floor. She walked into Ema's office and saw the woman in deep thought. "You called for me Ema?"

"Ah senpai, I'm glad you're here I have a serious problem." Jingure adopted a serious look on her face.

"Alright, what's the problem? I will help however I can." She sat down across from her.

"Okay, so I have a date tonight, but I have never been on a date before. What do I do?" Jingure stared at her blankly.

"Your serious problem; is that you don't know what to do on a date?" The blonde woman nodded her head. Jingure started chuckling and Ema glared at her.

"This is not a funny situation." Jingure tried to stop but a chuckle came out every now and then.

"Alright I'm sorry." Her look change to that of interest. "In order for me to help you; you have to give me all of the details. Who is the guy, how did you meet, and where you are going?"

"Well, we meet a little over a year ago. I never thought much of him but lately my opinion has been changing. We are going out for sushi and he is picking me up at my apartment at seven."

"Alright; tell me what he is like so I can recommend what you wear." Jingure said.

"Well, he is kind of rough looking, but he has a soft side to him to. I have never seen him dressed real nicely."

"Okay I got it. If I were you I would wear something nice and casual. Not to nice though as it's only your first date. Considering it's sushi, and if he is smart he will take you to the nice sushi place in the market district, than you should just wear a low-key dress. Make yourself look nice, but not too nice." Ema nodded her head. "The most important thing for you to remember when you are on this date is to relax and be yourself. If you aren't relaxed than it will be awkward."

"Alright, thank you for the advice senpai."

"No problem." Jingure got out of the chair and walked towards the door. "Wait, you still never told me who this guy is."

"You know him. He is your nephew's father." Jingure's eyes widened.

"You are going on a date with Kuzuri?" Ema nodded her head.

"Yeah, I know it is weird, but I think it could be fun." Her response was Jingure fainting in the doorway to Ema's office. "Was it something I said?" Ema asked herself.

(With Kuzuri)

"Alright so what exactly do you need my advice about." Shishi asked.

"Well I don't really remember how to act on a date or what to wear." Kuzuri said.

"First off where are you taking her?"

"I'm going to take her to that sushi place in the market district."

"Good, you can't take her to a cheap place or a real expensive place. Great starting place. Now as to what you should wear. I would recommend a nice pair of jeans and a collared shirt."

"That's it?"

"Well it is much easier to decide what a guy should wear. But there is one major thing you need to take care of."

"What would that be."

"You need to shave."

"I refuse. I happen to like my beard."

"I'm not talking about completely shaving it off. Just trim it and make it look presentable; it looks all wild and honestly pretty dirty." Kuzuri growled at the man.

"Fine; trim the beard and wear nice clothes. Now I need help figuring out how to act."

"Just act like yourself." Kuzuri raised an eyebrow at the man. "If she accepted the date than she doesn't have a problem with how you act. I would just recommend that when you are with her; you tone down on your brash and vulgar side. Don't irritate her or be rude to anyone. Show her that you can be a decent person."

"Alright, I think I can pull that off." Kuzuri walked to the door. "Thanks for the advice bub."

"Oh one more thing; don't worry about it. If you worry about making a good impression than the date will be awkward."

"I can't believe I came to you for dating advice." Kuzuri said chuckling.

"Me either my friend. Make sure you have a good time tonight." Kuzuri left and walked out of the complex towards the market district. He arrived at a clothing store.

"Hello sir; is there anything I can help you with?" A man holding a measuring tape asked him.

"Yes, I am looking for something nice to wear for a first date. Nothing to nice though."

"Ah come with me sir, I know just the outfit for you." Kuzuri followed the man deeper into the store.

(A couple hours later)

"Alright; it's one o clock now. I'll train Naruto for a couple of hours before taking him to Shadou's and getting ready for the night." Kuzuri said to himself drinking a beer. "What did I get myself into?" There was a light knock on his door and he opened it revealing the hokage and a smiling Naruto.

"Hey dad!" The boy greeted him.

"Hey squirt; did you have fun with the hokage?"

"You betcha. He showed me how to do paperwork today." The boy turned to the hokage and hugged him. "Thanks for the fun Oji-san." The boy vanished into the apartment leaving a smiling hokage.

"So, pawning off your paperwork on a kid huh?" Kuzuri asked.

"I don't know what you are talking about Kuzuri. I was simply showing the boy one of the many duties of the hokage." He responded with a chuckle. "He happened to find it enjoyable which surprised me. He scanned every document thoroughly before setting them in separate piles. He divided those that needed approval from those that would be denied. There were a few in each pile that belonged in the other but he did good." Kuzuri waved it off.

"Paperwork is of no interest to me. He probably liked learning what goes on in the village."

"Yes probably. Well my paperwork for the day is done so I will be on my way. Have a good evening Kuzuri." The man told him with a wink.

"You have fun reading your books Hiruzen." The hokage chuckled as he walked off. Kuzuri closed the door and turned around seeing an excited Naruto.

"Let's train now!" Kuzuri laughed at the boy.

"Alright Naruto; go put on the training clothes I got you and meet me in the living room." The boy ran off into his room and Kuzuri walked into his own. He pulled a duffel bag out of his closet and went back into the living room. Naruto reappeared wearing a gray t-shirt and black pants along with a pair of white shoes. "Let's go squirt." With that said the two men left the apartment and walked down the stairs. They took a left down a hallway and went deeper into the apartment complex.

"Wow I didn't know this place was so big."

"Yeah, there are a lot of people living here Naruto. It has to be big." They went through a door and down a short flight of stairs. When they exited the stairs Naruto's jaw dropped.

"I didn't know that there was a place this huge here." They stood in a large room that was one hundred yards in both directions. In one corner was a large number of training dummies, in another corner various weapons, in the third corner scroll racks and in the final one a water supply. In the wall between the dummies and weapons was another door. "What's behind there?" Naruto asked.

"You won't be going there for a long time Naruto. Not until I think you're ready." The boy pouted and Kuzuri dropped the duffel bag on the ground. He opened it up and pulled out a long sleeved red shirt and some strange straps. "Take your shirt off and put this one on." Naruto did as told and tilted his head in confusion.

"This shirt feels heavy." Kuzuri took the straps and attached one to each one of Naruto's thighs and his calves. "What are these for?"

"You will see Naruto." Kuzuri then pulled out a dozen small black rectangles. He went about placing them in small compartments in the shirt and the straps on his legs. He had one on each forearm, one on each bicep, two on his chest, two on his back, and one in each strap on Naruto's legs. The boy hunched over after Kuzuri made a hand seal and pulsed some chakra.

"This stuff is heavy dad. What's going on?"

"Okay, each weight now has one and a half pounds on it equaling a total of eighteen pounds." Kuzuri motioned Naruto to follow him to the center of the room. He kneeled down and put chakra into a seal and short two foot walls sprouted in a twenty five yard square around them. "I want you to run around this area until I tell you to stop."

"What about all this weight?"

"What about it? You want to get strong right?" The boy started to complain. "Okay we can just go home and you get no training."

"Wait no I want to train." Naruto shouted. "It just seems hard is all."

"Training should never be easy; otherwise you gain nothing out of it. Now, start running." Naruto begrudgingly started to run. Five minutes later he was barely pulling himself along. "Alright stop and come here." Naruto happily complied.

"Now what?" He panted out.

"You do pushups until I say stop." The boy groaned but did as told fifteen pushups later he was unable to push himself up. "Okay, now sit-ups." The boy did twenty sit-ups before he could no longer do them. "Stand up." Naruto slowly stood up covered in sweat. "Now hold the squat position until I tell you to stop." Naruto did as told and held the position for a minute until he collapsed. "Okay now for a two minute break." Naruto took a big drink of water from a water bottle his dad gave him.

"How come chakra wouldn't help me? I tried using it."

"Those disks are weights and also block chakra from being used. Great training devices, I used to use them."

"How long have we been doing this?"

"Only twenty minutes." Naruto's jaw dropped.

"It feels like longer than that."

"Well, we are going to do it three more times." The boy's eyes widened as Kuzuri took the water bottle away. "Breaks over; get to running." Groaning Naruto started the entire process over. Thirty minutes later Naruto was lying on his back covered in even more sweat drinking water. "You are doing great Naruto. I'll give you an extra minute to catch your breath."

"This is so hard." Naruto said. "What does all this do?"

"This is to build up your stamina and strength. The weights make you heavier so everything you do will build some muscle. It also makes your body work harder to perform the running exercise so your body will perform much better with them off." Kuzuri looked at a clock on the wall. "Okay, your break time is up. You know the drill." Naruto got up and went back to running complaining through the running process. When he finished the cycle he went to sit down. "Don't sit. You only get a two minute break."

"But that one took longer than the last one why so short?" Naruto asked.

"The fourth set is to push yourself. The first set was only twenty minutes long with five minutes of running, the second was thirty with four and six minutes of running, and your third one was thirty five minutes long with five minutes of running. You did fifteen, eighteen, and sixteen pushups; twenty, twenty-two, and twenty-one sit-ups; and you squatted for one minute each time. You have improved in the second set but declined in the third. This is natural because you are getting tired. The fourth set is the one where you push yourself. The one where you use all the energy you have and then some that you don't. This will cause the most improvement. Breaks over start running again." Naruto stumbled before starting to run again. He ran for eight minutes and then went to push-ups. Naruto collapsed at twenty pushups then had him do sit-ups. Falling onto his back at twenty-three sit-ups Naruto laid there breathing heavily. "Get up, you have one more thing to do."

"I can't do it." Naruto groaned out.

"Naruto, get up." The boy slowly rolled over and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He stumbled as he stood up and turned around facing his dad. "Squat position for two minutes this time."

"Dad, I can't. I'm dead tired and out of energy." Kuzuri's gaze hardened and he walked over to Naruto and forced him into the squat position.

"You wanted to be trained Naruto. You have been begging me to train you, and now you tell me you can't?" He asked sternly. "If this is the case; then you can't become hokage either."

"What does…being hokage have to… do with…training." Naruto barely got out.

"How do you think the old man became Hokage? It was just because it fell into his lap. He trained extremely hard and showed the abilities to become hokage. That is why he was chosen by the hokage before him. The second hokage was leading a group of six jounin from a platoon of a dozen or more enemies in the second great ninja war. Everyone was dead tired like you right now. He selected the old man you know right now to become the third hokage because he saw those traits in him and he told him to get the five other jounin to safety. Do you think he complained about it because he was tired?" Naruto slowly shook his head as his entire body started to shake. Kuzuri pushed him onto his butt. "Two minutes are up. No he didn't complain. He slowly stood up and brought those five home with no further injuries. And do you think the second just lay there tired and wait for the enemies to get him? He got up and fought the enemies when they showed up to give his squad time to escape. He got up and pushed himself past his limits and got stronger in that moment than he had been in his entire life. It's not because he was the hokage, it's because he had something to fight for. That was his fuel." Naruto huffed and puffed on his back and Kuzuri placed the water bottle on the ground next to him. "You want to be hokage; use that goal as the fuel to push yourself past your limits and do the impossible."

"I get it now dad. No more complaining from me." Naruto told him. "Is there something you can do real quick?"

"What's that squirt?" Kuzuri asked him.

"Can you help me; I can't move at all." Kuzuri chuckled.

"That means you had a good training session Naruto." He said helping Naruto standing up. He pulled the weight disks out of the training clothes and helped Naruto change his shirt. He picked up the duffel bag and walked out glancing at the clock. It read three forty-five. "I'm going to drop you off at Shadou's now how does that sound." The boy grumbled out a response. "Shadou's it is." He walked out of the training area and quickly back into the main courtyard. He walked up to his floor and walked down to Shadou's apartment knocking on the door. The woman opened the door and frowned seeing Naruto's state.

"What did you do to him?" She asked sternly.

"He wanted me to train him. So I trained him a little bit. He will be fine in a couple hours; just really sore." Shadou took the boy who groaned in pain causing her to glare at the man.

"You brought him over pretty early."

"Well I have some things to take care of and I'm going out tonight."

"Ah that's right; hot date with Ema." Kuzuri's eye's widened. "Oh, she told Jingure about it and then Jingure came by here and told me about it. Typical girl gossip you know. Don't have too much fun tonight." Shadou said with a wink. Kuzuri coughed into his hand and handed her the duffel bag.

"There is a smaller bag with Naruto's stuff for the night and tomorrow." Shadou took it with a giggle.

"I have never seen the infamously tough Kuzuri all flustered over something." She smiled at the man. "Things will be fine. You can even use Naruto as an excuse to spend more time with her if you wanted to."

"We will see how the night goes." Kuzuri said walking away. "Make sure the kid gets a good night's sleep, because we are training tomorrow to." The boy groaned as he heard him say this. "Training him is going to be more fun than I thought." Kuzuri disappeared into his apartment chuckling.

A couple hours and beers later Kuzuri looked himself over in the mirror. He wore a black polo shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans along with a pair of black tennis shoes. "This feels so weird." He said to himself running his hand over his newly trimmed beard. He looked at a black and silver watch he put on for the night. "Six-thirty; if I leave now I can check on Naruto real quick and still make it on time." Kuzuri left his apartment and went to Shadou's. He knocked on the door and said woman opened the door. She raised an eyebrow and looked Kuzuri over.

"Who would have guess that you could actually look like a real human being." She said. "What can I help you with? Don't you have to get off to your date now?"

"I came to check on the squirt. How is he feeling?" Kuzuri asked her.

"He is in the shower right now. He fell asleep after you left and when he woke up he couldn't quit complaining about how sore he was." She told him.

"How long has he been awake for?"

"About thirty minutes; I told him that if he quit complaining and took a shower I would make him some homemade ramen." Kuzuri chuckled and shook his head.

"That kid always finds ways to get ramen. Don't give him to much now; make him eat some real food with it." Shadou waved off the comment.

"I pack my homemade stuff with a lot of vitamins and other healthy stuff. But I guess I can put some other food on the table to since you asked." She smirked at the man. "Well now that you checked on Naruto you better get out of here. You don't want to be late now do you?"

"Yeah you're right. Oh do me another favor." The woman looked at him telling him to continue. "Wash Naruto's training clothes for me, thanks." Kuzuri walked off leaving a blinking Shadou.

"That son of a bitch." She said under her breath. From behind her she heard a slight jingling. Turning around she saw Naruto's 'curse jar' sitting on the living room table. Groaning she shut the door and put some money into it. "I wish I knew where the kid pulls that jar from."

Kuzuri turned down the street that Ema lived on and looked at his watch again. "Five minutes until seven; better hurry a little." He jogged down the street silently glad that it was the warm season in Konoha. He arrived at the address Ema wrote down and looked at the small house. He walked down a small path to the porch and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. Ema opened the door a minute later and smiled at the man.

"Hello Kuzuri; come in I was just finishing getting ready." She stepped back from the door and let the man in. "I will be just another minute." She walked quickly down the hallway and through a door close to the back. Kuzuri walked to a small intersection in the house and looked around. To his left was a small kitchen that had a table and four chairs off to the side. To his right was a living room with a three person couch and a love seat with a matching ottoman. A table in front of the couch had a couple books on it and a television was in the room as well. He glanced down the hallway seeing three doors figuring that one was her room, the other a bathroom, and the last a closet.

A couple minutes later Ema walked out of her bedroom. "Well I must say; you clean up very well Kuzuri."

"Thank you; you look very nice tonight also." He said taking in what she wore. She was wearing a modest dark blue dress and short black heels. "Shall we get going?"

"Of course after you." She picked up a blue purse of a table next to the door and followed Kuzuri out. She locked the front door and the two left for the restaurant. "So how did training Naruto go?"

"It went good. He is pretty tired though. I talked to Shadou before I came over and she said he is really sore which I figured he would be." He told her. "I was very impressed with what he accomplished today and I am planning to train him again tomorrow."

"That's good; I know he always tells me how much he wants to start training."

"Yeah, he wasn't to excited with how I was training him until the end. He kept complaining until I told him what it took to become the hokage."

"He does have a strong desire to become hokage doesn't he?" She said with a chuckle. They arrived at the market district and the sushi restaurant a couple minutes later. Walking in the host smiled at the two.

"Welcome to the Sakana Kingu. Is it just you two tonight?" He asked them. Kuzuri nodded and the man picked two menus out of the pile. "Please follow me." They followed the man to a table next to where the chef made the sushi. Sitting down the host placed the menu's in front of them. "You're server will be with you in a minute; I hope you enjoy yourselves this evening." He gave them a short bow and walked back to the front of the restaurant.

"Not very busy tonight is it?" Kuzuri said looking over the menu.

"I hear their busiest days are the weekends so we got lucky." Ema responded with a smile. "So what are you going to get?"

"Well; I have never actually had sushi before so I don't know what is good."

"You have never had sushi?" Kuzuri shook his head.

"I figured it would be good to try something new. What do you recommend?"

"Well why don't I order, and you try what comes to the table and tell me how you like it?" She said.

"That sounds good to me." The waiter arrived at their table and smiled at the two.

"Hello, my name is Tatsuki and I will be your server tonight. Are we ready to order?"

"Yes we are. We would like a dinner plate for two."

The waiter nodded his head and wrote down on his pad. "And what are the five items you would like on that?"

"One of anago, hamachi, saba, tako and tobiko please. And also a side of the tobi-tama."

"Ah excellent choices; the tobi-tama happens to be one of my favorites." He responded writing the items down. "And what would you two like for beverages?"

"I'll have some jasmine tea." Ema said handing him her menu.

"I'll take a water and some green tea." Kuzuri told him.

"Alright; I will get that to you as soon as possible." The waiter walked up to the chef and handed him the list of food and he started to prepare it.

"So what exactly did you order?" Kuzuri asked.

"It's a surprise. Don't worry you will like it." She said with a smile.

"I guess I have to take your word for it." They continued making small talk until their food arrived. Kuzuri picked up a piece of what Ema told him was anago. "Here it goes." He popped it into his mouth and chewed it up swallowing it. "That's pretty good what was it?"

"Just some sea eel." Ema told him as she ate a piece herself. "You should try the tobi-tama. It's really good." Kuzuri tried a piece of everything and smiled.

"This is all really good. Some of it is weird, like the eel and flying fish with quail, but it at least tastes good." Kuzuri said eating a piece of tako.

"See, I knew you would like it." Ema put a piece of saba in her mouth. A half an hour later they were done with their meal. Kuzuri paid and the two left the restaurant heading back to Ema's house. "So the sushi wasn't to bad now was it?" She asked him as they arrived at her front door.

"Not at all. Like I said it was very good. It also helps that I ate it in the presence of a very fun and interesting person." Ema smiled at the comment.

"Well I had a very nice night. It was a lot of fun." She said. "Hopefully we can do something like this again."

"I would love to." Kuzuri responded. Ema unlocked her door and looked at Kuzuri.

"We will plan something for some other time than. Good night Kuzuri."

"Good night Ema." With that said and a final smile Ema went into her house and locked the door behind her. Kuzuri walked down the street with his arms behind his head.

"That went surprisingly well." He said to himself as he disappeared down the street.

\/\/

Fuwafuwa-Fluffy

A/N: Again I would like to apologize for the extremely long delay. But alas unfortunately writing is a hobby of mine and most everything else takes precedence over it. I will be trying hard to update more consistently; at least once a month hopefully. Well next chapter is a familiar situation with a twist and Naruto joining the academy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Again please review :)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A/N: Alright, this is the chapter where things finally get interesting. This entire chapter is going to be dedicated to the Uchiha massacre. The next two chapters will be about Naruto and friends in the academy. Well I hope you all enjoy the read.

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A group of twenty people stood in a circular room. Fifteen stood in front of a desk facing the remaining five behind it. One person was sitting while the other four flanked him to both sides.

"Now, you all understand as to why I have called you here correct?" An elderly voice stated. "You are here because you are the few that I can truly trust with the task at hand. This is going to be the final briefing into the situation. As we all know, thanks to Itachi, we have learned that two days from now the Uchiha clan is planning to overthrow the leadership of the village. Unfortunately we do not know how deep the threat runs; so as much as it pains me to say this; the only way to solve the problem is the annihilation of the clan itself."

"Hokage-sama; you can't be serious?" A male voice said from the group of fifteen. "The Uchiha clan is too valuable to the village to just completely wipe out."

"I understand your worry Kenmijinko, but we won't be completely wiping out the clan. This is another highly classified piece of information. There is a group of criminals being formed known as the Akatsuki; their leader has come to Itachi and asked him to join their group. He is going to accept and leave tonight with the leader. There is one Uchiha still alive." The Hokage responded.

"How is that going to help us? He won't be inside the village to help us at all." The man said.

"Unknown to the rest of the village; Itachi has a lover, and she is with child right now. Besides that, we have his sister, Sachiko. She will live because we are one hundred percent positive she knows nothing about the plan. There are also four newborns in the hospital and three Uchiha children that are three years old or younger. In all, including Itachi, there will be ten living members of the Uchiha clan."

"That's good and all old man, but how exactly is the Uchiha going to be wiped out?" A gruff voice spoke out.

"Kuzuri, show some respect for the Hokage." A female said.

"It's alright Jingure. That is where everyone in this room comes into play. Kenmijinko, Jingure, and Shadoukyatto will be in charge of locating and retrieving the three toddlers in the compound once the attack begins. Once they have located and secured said toddler; Jingure will assist the attack forces by telepathically searching for any Uchiha's and relaying them to the closest squad. Naitokurora and Hankan will get the newborns out of the hospital with the help of Dr.'s Shimo and Seshiria. Can those I have already identified step to the right side of the room please." People shuffled and moved and the seven named people we off to the side on their own. A man stood in between Shadou and Jingure. He wore black pants and a blue t-shirt with a grey vest over it. His feature that stood out was a crimson piece of glass that covered his eyes. The other group of four was more varied. Naitokurora looked like he was related to Shishi. He was skinny and his skin was blue. He had pointed ears, his feet had two toes which he balanced his weight on, and he had a tail resembling the devils. Hankan, had black hair, was very tan, and extremely muscular. He was spinning a large knife in his hand. Dr. Seshiria had black skin and long, braided, brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She, along with everyone else standing in front of the Hokage, wore the same outfit.

"Itachi has made a map for Jingure's group and the two Dr.'s will lead their group. My student Jiraiya, has trained the three behind me in a technique that will cut off the entire compound from the village. No one will be able to escape and no one will be able to enter. The retrieval group will move into the compound with the attack force while at the same time the hospital group will move and retrieve the babies."

"What are the groups going to be in the attack force?" Kuzuri asked.

"Itachi will be meeting up with you all at the compound. Kuzuri, Itachi, and Bishoppu will each lead their groups. Kuzuri's group will compose of himself, Sairokku, and Tanken. Please step to the side." Kuzuri stepped to the side and was followed by two women. Tanken was a blonde haired woman in her early twenties. Sairokku was the same age as Tanken with purple hair instead of blonde. She also had a red tattoo on the left side of her face going from above her eyebrow to lower than her nose. Ema frowned at the group.

"Bishoppu's group will consist of himself, Habokku, and Sutomu." Bishoppu separated himself from the remaining people and was followed as well; leaving a woman and man alone in the middle of the room. Habokku resembled Kenmijinko but looked a couple years younger and had blonde hair instead of brown. In the middle of his chest was a large circle that was glowing blue. Sutomu was a dark skinned woman with white hair. "And Itachi will meet up with his group at the compound. The remaining two members are Anko and Gai." The woman had purple hair and she wore a mesh body suit covered by a tan trench coat and a dirty orange skirt. The man had a black bowl cut and wore a green spandex suit.

"Yosh, if you don't mind me asking Hokage-sama; where is my groups fearless leader?" The man shouted. He smiled and held a thumb up.

"He is taking his sister to a safe location away from the battle." He responded to the man who nodded. "Now, most ninja are out on missions and the rest are keeping an eye on the return of the Kumo delegation. Danzou has provided two Root squads to keep anyone from wandering into the area the Uchiha district is in to prevent this from being found out. We have a very small window of time to pull this off. Dr. Shimo; please escort your group to the hospital now and wait for the signal." The woman nodded her head and her group started filing out of the room. "Everyone else, separate into your respective groups and start making your way to the compound now." Everyone else exited the room leaving just the Hokage and the three behind him. "Tiger, Eagle, Lion; go get in position for the barrier." The three masked figures behind him disappeared leaving him alone. A brief knock on the hokage's door and Danzou walked in.

"I trust they are all aware as to what they are supposed to do?" Danzou asked. The Hokage nodded his head. "Good; the two squadrons of root I have provided are the best ones in my forces. Should your attack squadrons miss any; mine will not. What is going to be the clean-up process?"

"The three ANBU squads that Tiger, Eagle, and Lion are in charge of will go to the compound and dispose of the bodies. I will have Jingure's group remain in the compound once the mission is carried through with. The story that will be given is that the three of them were finishing a patrol and heard a scream. They investigated and found one of the toddlers alone with his family dead around them. They made sure he was safe and looked for more. They scared the attacker away from murdering two more toddlers, thus becoming a silver lining to a horrific event. Dr. Shimo and Dr. Seshiria will be seen as heroes to for protecting the young Uchiha in the hospital. Jingure's group will then assist in the collecting of the Uchiha bodies for disposal."

"What of my request?" Danzou asked.

"The body of Uchiha Shisui has already been delivered to your compound."

"Very good, simple enough payment for my services I believe." Danzou said. "I believe that you have a delegation from Kumo to finalize a treaty with." With that said Danzou left just as quickly as he came. The Hokage stood up from behind his desk and made a couple of hand signs. A cloud of smoke appeared and the Hokage was gone.

()()

"Itachi-nii-san! Why can't I just hang out with you? I don't want to go to that no good Ino's house for the night." Sachiko complained.

"Now Sachiko; I figured that you would be happy to be spending time with your friends." Itachi told the girl riding on his shoulders. "Naruto and Ino planned a slumber party and invited all your friends. Shino, Kiba, and even Hinata will be there." The girl simply pouted and crossed her arms.

"I wouldn't mind if it was just Naruto, Shino, and Kiba; but I don't like Ino or Hinata." She said.

"And why not? Ino likes to play with all of you, and Hinata is about the nicest person around." Sachiko mumbled something under her breath. "What was that? I couldn't hear you my dear sister."

"I said they are trying to steal Naruto-kun from me." She replied with a slight blush. "Naruto was my friend first; than he had to go and get Ino and Hinata involved."

"You should be happy though. In the two years that you have known Naruto you have made five friends including him. So when the academy opens up you will have plenty of people to talk to, study with, and even train with. Training by yourself works, but when you train with others you will get even better."

"I guess so." The girl grumbled out. "Can you stay tonight to? You can tell everyone more stories about your journeys and cool missions." The girl was now bouncing excitedly on the young mans shoulders.

"Unfortunately I can't little sister. I have to do something very important." The girls bouncing stopped and they arrived at the Yamanaka residence. Itachi knocked on the door and Yamanaka Rozu answered the door.

"Ah Itachi-san, Sachiko-chan! Welcome to our residence." She greeted cheerfully. A disgruntled Inoichi walked up to the door.

"A handful of kids to much for you Inoichi?" Itachi asked smirking.

"Well, whenever you get the energetic Naruto along with his friends it's bound to be a handful. Let me take Sachiko's bag for you and I'll put it with the rest." Itachi handed it to the man and he walked into the living room where a blonde boy was running around cheerfully. Itachi put his sister on the ground off of his shoulders. She turned around and looked at him with big eyes.

"Please stay Itachi-nii. You know how much everyone here likes you." She gave him the puppy dog look.

"I'm sorry Sachiko, but I can't." He kneeled down and put his hands on her shoulders. "This is really important. When you are big enough you will understand." The girl nodded and hugged the man. "It's okay; I know why you are really acting like this. It's always a little scary to stay somewhere else for the first time. I promise you it will be alright. The Yamanaka's will make sure everything is okay."

"Alright nii-san." The girl said. "I love you."

"I love you to Sachiko-chan. Now go have fun with your friends." The girl nodded her head and ran off into the living room.

"SACHIKO-CHAN!" A loud voice yelled followed by a loud thud. Itachi chuckled and stood up with Inoichi walking back to the front door.

"Itachi, I want you to know that we will always be here for Sachiko and you." He said to the man. "I know what you must do. She will understand when she gets older." The raven haired man nodded his head.

"Thank you Inoichi." He handed the man an envelope. "Give this to Sachiko when she makes it to the Chuunin Exam finals." Inoichi stuck it in his pants pockets. Itachi turned and started to walk away.

"No matter what the village will say about you after tonight; you are a hero." Itachi vanished into the night a tear hitting the ground where he once stood. Inoichi shut the door and turned around. "Alright you little buggers; who wants to play hide-and-go-seek?" Loud cheers came from the living room causing the man to laugh.

()()

Itachi arrived at the Uchiha clan compound. All the lights were out and there were a few guards patrolling deeper inside. "Hey bub; we are over here." Itachi looked to the side of the gate and saw a couple groups of people arriving. He walked over to them and shook Kuzuri's outstretched hand. Jingure walked up and gave the man a hug.

"I'm sorry." Was all she said. Itachi pulled out four pieces of paper. He handed one to the leader of each group.

"Jingure, your gives you directions to the houses the toddlers are in. In the envelope on the back are stickers with a red 'X' on them. Place it on the door so that the attack squads know you were there. That way they aren't searching for missing people." The woman nodded and took her group to the side and they started memorizing where they needed to go. "Kuzuri, your group is in charge of the police district. This area has roughly fifty Uchiha with active Sharingan and twenty without. Bishoppu, your group will be handling the living quarters. There will be thirty active sharingan users and twenty non-active. My group will be taking the main compound building. This consists of the five Uchiha's and their families. Jingure's group will accompany Bishoppu's to the living quarters. Shadou will take the toddlers to a safe location, Jingure will assist all squads in locating and eliminating Uchiha's, and Kenmijinko will come to the main building to assist my squad. Bishoppu, Kuzuri; if you feel you are well enough into your task to lend one of your squad please do. The main house is going to be a very difficult task."

"You got it bub."

"I will assist in whatever manner I can."

"I would like to thank you all in advance for your help. Now, everyone go to your areas and wait for the signal." Everyone nodded their heads and went about going to their targets. Itachi and his group moved quickly and quietly and dispatched with the guards wandering the area and hid the bodies. Arriving at their destination they squatted outside of the doors and sat in silence. In the distance a lone firework went up into the air exploding. A couple seconds later it was followed by dozens more. Everyone looked up to see flashes of light rising from three areas around the compound before connecting. The sky shimmered between the three sides of the lines forming a pyramid of sorts. "That's the signal. We have to be quiet." Itachi slowly opened one of the doors and they snuck into the building.

(With Kuzuri)

"Alright, Tanken you take the left side of the compound; Sairokku, you take the right side." Kuzuri said.

"What area are you going to take senpei?" The purple haired woman asked.

"I got dibs on the barracks." The man said as his claws extended out of his hands.

Sairokku entered her half of the building through a window in a office. She landed silently behind a man doing paperwork at a desk. A pink knife that looked like it was made out of energy appeared in her right hand. Moving quickly she placed a hand over the surprised mans mouth and nose. Pushing the head forward she quickly moved the blade across his throat effectively slitting it. The man thrashed for a bit before he slumped in his chair. She laid the man on his back and sunk her blade into his heart. She cracked open the door and peered out of it. She saw two men standing by a water-cooler and a third one walking towards past the room she was in. She moved out of the room and shoved the knife into the back of the mans head. She silently cursed as the body hit the ground with a thud. The two men by the water-cooler turned to look at the noise. She ran and hurdled over a desk. Sliding under another one and forming two of her knives and lunging up she drove each one up through the chins of the two and into the brains. She moved through the rest of her side of the building efficiently eliminating every person in the building. She did another sweep of the building and found no other police members. She entered into an empty hallway connecting the two buildings.

"Well well well, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome contestant number one!" A man's voice came from the end of the hall. "If you would be so kind as to look into the camera and smile for our wonderful audience." She looked at the man and rose an eyebrow. The man wore a red and black spandex suit that covered him head to toe. Her eyebrow wasn't risen at the suit or the plethora of sharp weapons on his person. No her eyebrow was risen at the fact that he had his arm around a dead guards shoulders and was talking to him. "Well Bob, my old friend, her unwillingness to cooperate is going to drop our ratings." He stood up and kicked the body away drawing his two swords. "Let's put on a wonderful show babe." His response was her forming two swords out of the same pinkish energy as the knives. "Say after I kill you and everything; do you wanna get a bite to eat?"

(With Tanken)

The blonde woman wasn't as stealthy as her partner; choosing instead to walk through the front door. She walked up to the front desk swaying her hips slightly catching the gaze of a couple officers. The man behind the counter smiled lecherously at the woman and stood up. "Hello ma'am, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, I seem to have lost my fluffy, white kitten Snookums." She said folding her hands under her chin. "Can you please help me find him?" The rest of the officers chuckled and looked away from the two. He handed her a piece of paper.

"I will try my hardest to help you out. If you just write down on this piece of paper your name and address; I will make sure to bring him by when we find him." The woman smiled at him and wrote down on the paper handing it back to him. He looked at it and a confused look crossed his face. "'Try not to scream?' What's that supposed to mea-" His sentence was cut off as a glowing white dagger sunk itself into his throat. The man's skin started to dry out and wrinkle and he hit the ground with the dagger vanishing. The remaining officers looked at the sight in shock before they all withdrew kunai and shuriken. The woman held her hands up.

"You wouldn't harm little ole me would you?" She asked with a pout. A couple of the men slowly started to walk towards her. She winked at the six men and dozens of shining white daggers appeared floating around her. She snapped her fingers and they shot forward. As soon as they left she jumped over the desk and rushed the men. Two of the officers dropped dead from the daggers. She reached the closest officer and spun kicking him in the knee. The man fell to the floor with a scream only to be silenced by a dagger to the temple. She rolled over the body and drove two daggers into the next mans gut. She did a short back flip breaking the mans jaw with her heel. He hit the ground already a withered husk of a man. She stood up and made two more daggers looking the other two in the eyes. One stepped back and whistled causing three more officers to walk out of a different room. Seeing the scene they started to make hand signs. "You guys are making this a lot of fun for me." She quickly dispatched four of the men. The final man backed up into a door. "Now don't be scared. This won't hurt very much." She went to throw another dagger at him only to be stopped by a whip wrapping around the man's neck. She heard the sound of crackling electricity before the man dropped to the ground dead.

"Pathetic, to think; a prestigious clan such as the Uchiha is so weak. No wonder they hired us to help with their little plan." A man walked into the lit lobby. He wore a dark blue spandex suit with red wrappings covering his head, wrists, feet, and forming a unitard. He held the end of the whip in his hand and he snapped another whip out of a strange orange colored electricity. "My name is Senyaka, and I am your executioner."

(With Kuzuri)

The man stood in front of the door to the barracks with his claws extended. He cracked his neck before he raised his foot and kicked the door in. The sound of the wood splintering startled the officers and woke up and that were asleep. Drawing kunai, shuriken, and even swords they took up defensive positions facing Kuzuri. One man stepped forward holding a katana. "State your business."

"My business? Well I would have to say that my business would be to kill all of you." With that said he growled before lunging into the group of ninja. Screams of pain erupted from the group followed by showers of blood and severed limbs. A handful of ninja at the back of the barracks backed up against the wall in fear.

"This guy; he's a fucking monster." One of them stuttered. "We are going to need HIS help for this." One of the others looked at him.

"Are you crazy? In order to get to him we have to go out the door. And I am not walking anywhere close to that guy." He pointed in the direction of the door where Kuzuri was still in the midst of combat. "Fuck, you know what I just thought of."

"What?" A third one asked.

"Once he is done here; what's stopping him from going for the rest of the clan?"

"I doubt he would be able to. He still has Fugaku and the rest to get through, plus there is all the other ninja in the village. They have to know what's going on in here. We just have to survive until than."

"You think I am going to let you survive, Bub?" They looked up in shock at the man in front of him. All of their comrades lay in hundreds of pieces around the barracks. Limbs, weapons, and pools of blood lay everywhere. Kuzuri had many weapons sticking out of his body. Katanas were piercing through his body in various places, he had kunai embedded in his stomach and shuriken everywhere. One by one he pulled said weapons out of his body and the wounds sealed shut in front of their very eyes.

"Let's take him out." Two of them shouted charging the man. Their charge didn't last to long before they were cut down.

"Well Bub, you're the only one left. I'll let you take a free shot." Kuzuri said. His response was a large man dropping out of the rafters breaking the survivor's neck. He had short cropped blonde hair, thick sideburns, he wore tan cargo pants and a black muscle shirt.

"I'm disappointed in you Jimmy. Sloppy workmanship; you could have done so much better." He said standing up. Kuzuri's eyes narrowed at the man.

"I didn't think you were still alive after what happened in Snow." Kuzuri said growling out.

"I'm hard to kill; just like you…little brother." With that said the two men roared and lunged at each other.

(Sairokku)

Swords clashed as the two were now face to face. Sairokku grunted and leaped off the ground kicking the man in the chest separating from him. He fell to the ground and rolled backwards standing on his feet. He dove to the side as glowing pink shuriken embedded into the wall before disappearing. "Now that…is…just…sexy." The man shouted as he pulled out shuriken of his own. He quickly threw them only to have a beam of the pink energy melt them as it shot towards him. Dodging again he threw kunai at her. Silently cursing Sairokku was forced to doge the blades. 'Smooth, but not smooth enough baby." The man yanked his arms back pulling on a string attached to the blades causing one to lodge itself into her calf. She cursed out loud dodging the other kunai.

"You are a formidable opponent. What is your name?" The man stood up and pointed at himself.

"Huh? Are you talking to me?" His response was another wave of energy shuriken. "Geeze, it must be that time of the month for you. You should really point out who you are talking to at all times. You were looking into the camera how was I supposed to know you were talking to me."

"What cameras are you talking about?" The woman asked clearly annoyed.

"Oh how naive you are. You know those cameras behind you." Sairokku looked behind her. Not seeing anything she turned back around only to see a lunging man swinging down his swords at her. Quickly creating her swords she blocked the man's attack. "Man, you have a sexy body and you are good with swords." He said doing a back flip away from the woman. "If you tell me you're name I will tell you mine."

The woman held her swords up in a defensive position. "My name is Sairokku."

"Sounds exotic. My name is Deadpool." He took an attacking stance with his swords. "I still think we should skip this whole fighting thing and just get to doing the dirty." He said rushing the woman again. He swung a sword towards her head and another towards her knees. "I mean; just imagine how adorable our kids would be." Sairokku blocked the two swings and spun on one foot lashing out with the other kicking him square in the groin. The man dropped his swords and rolled into a ball holding onto himself. "Totally…not…cool." He groaned out. He slowly stood up and yanked his arms back and re-sheathed his swords. "These Uchiha guys don't pay me enough to take this kind of mental trauma. I'm out of here." The man threw two orbs onto the ground causing confetti to shoot out of them.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sairokku asked the man as he was on top of a filing cabinet trying to escape out a window.

"Damnit; I knew I should have separated my flashy entrance bombs from my cool escape bombs." The man said as he threw two more orbs. This time he got a cloud of smoke. "Hopefully we meet again sexy!" The man shouted as he disappeared. The woman remained standing there taking deep breaths.

"Breath Sairokku, breath." She said to herself. "I need to take a tally of the Uchiha members that are eliminated in my sector." She calmed herself before going back through the building and counting the bodies. "Okay including the one the crazy guy was talking to; twenty five Uchiha's." She pulled out a piece of paper. "Killed: Twenty-five. Escaped: Psychotic Nut-Job." She pocketed the piece of paper. "Time to go meet up with Tanken." She walked back into the hallway and towards the door at the other end. She went to open the door when a body shattered through the wooden door and crashed into her. The two of them went rolling across the floor of the hallway before coming to a stop. Sitting up and groaning Sairokku looked at Tanken. "What the hell happened to you?" Tanken rubbed the back of her head and pointed to the door where the whip wielding man walked through.

"You two will fuel me for a couple of months." He said sinisterly.

(Ten Minutes Prior With Tanken)

A storm of light daggers raced across the room. With a flick of his wrist Senyaka knocked most of them out of the air with his whip. One made it through and embedded itself into his shoulder. "I see." He said as he pulled it out and threw it on the ground. Moving his arm in a circle he grip his whips again. "Our powers aren't so different are they?" Lashing out with his whip it wrapped around Tanken's wrist. The girl grunted in pain as she started to feel weak. "Your daggers steal your enemies' life-force. To bad it doesn't go back and energize you. My whips on the other hand; suck the bio-electricity out of you and into me increasing my endurance and even my strength." He wrapped the other whip around her ankle. He spun around and jerked the whips towards him causing Tanken to fly through the air and crash into the wall.

"I'm not that easy to beat." She said and forming a dagger cut the ends of the whips off. Standing up she formed another set of blades. "With your whips damaged I am at an advantage now." She shoved her hand forward causing them to shoot towards Senyaka. The man shook his head and moved his whips knocking most of them out of the way again. This time three lodged into his body. Grunting he removed them and returned his gaze to Tanken. His eyes widened as her foot connected with his face and he went bouncing across the ground. He pushed himself onto his knees to receive a kick to his side that was followed with a muffled snap and sending him across the room. She created more daggers and launched them into the mans body as it was sliding across the floor.

He crashed into the wall and was greeted with Tanken baseball sliding into his stomach with both feet knocking the air out of him. Standing up she grabbed the mans arm and picked him up only to slam him through a desk. She formed two more daggers in her hands and stabbed both of them into the man's chest. Breathing heavily she stood up and stretched. "Ten dead Uchiha's and one dead bad guy. Not a bad day of work if I do say so." She said. Dusting her hands off she started walking towards a door. "Which one of these meets up with Sairokku?"

Senyaka slowly started to move. He rolled over and pushed himself onto his feet. "You bitch." He muttered out. The woman turned around and her eyes widened. Senyaka's whips returned to his hands and crackled with electricity. "Now, it's my turn." Electricity exploded out of him and lengthened his whips. Not only that, but his muscles also greatly expanded. With a crack of thunder a whip shot forward wrapping around her leg. He yanked it back pulling her in the air towards him. He disappeared and reappeared landing a heavy punch into Tanken's stomach. The women gasped as she went flying in the direction she came from. Her arm became dislocated when Senyaka wrapped her wrist with a whip and yanked her back in his direction. An axe kick to the side caused the woman to crash into the ground. The woman groaned in pain as the man wrapped her neck with the whip. Spinning around and releasing it the woman crashed through a door and into Sairokku.

-The Present-

He angrily cracked his whips. "You with the purple hair; you can still walk away with your life. This is between me and the blonde bitch."

"Unfortunately for you; when you have a problem with one of my team than you have a problem with me." She said as she created a handful of shuriken. Tanken stood up beside her and created daggers.

"Two energy users. You will definitely be good fuel." With that said he launched his two whips at the women. Sairokku and Tanken rushed the man. Sairokku leapt sideways and rebounded off of the wall over one of the whips; launching a wave of shuriken followed by kunai in the process. Tanken dove under the other whip and rolled onto her feet launching daggers at the man. Senyaka grunted and electricity pulsed out of him destroying the projectiles. Sairokku jumped off of another wall kicking him in the side of the head. He stumbled to the side and crashed to the ground after Tanken drove her heel into his right knee. Grunting in pain he stood up and pulsed more electricity. Cracking his whips. Quickly he wrapped them around the girl's waists and bashed them into each other than slamming each one into a wall before throwing them down the hallway. Slowly the two stood up.

"So is this guy only good with whips?" Sairokku asked forming her Katanas.

"Basically, but he isn't to bad with close up combat." Tanken responded. She looked at Sairokku's blades. "I take it you have a plan. Care to fill me in?"

"Yeah, cover me from a distance with your daggers. I'm going in close." Sairokku bolted from their position with Tanken's weapons following close behind her. She dove forward and barrel rolled with her swords in front of her, dodging Senyaka's whips and sinking them into his gut. Landing in a crouch Tanken's daggers flew past her head and sunk into his stomach. Sairokku swept Senyaka's feet out and leapt into the air doing an axe kick. His back hit the ground as Sairokku's heel crushed his throat. "Make it rain Tanken!" The blonde responded by forming dozens of daggers above Senyaka and dropping them on him. They sunk into various body parts and the man screamed out in pain. Sairokku stood over the mans head and made a katana. "It's always a bad idea to call a girl a bitch when she is with her friends." She put more energy into the sword and it glowed a dark pink. Swinging it down she separated the mans head from his body. The sword disappeared and Sairokku fell on her butt. Tanken collapsed next to her holding her side.

"That son of a bitch broke a couple of my ribs."

"You definitely owe me one Tanken."

"Why do you say that?"

"Before I got dragged into your fight; I just got done fighting the weirdest, pervert swordsman I have ever met." Sairokku groaned and pulled out her paper. "So how many Uchiha's did you encounter?"

"Just ten of them. I think you got most of them on your side." Sairokku wrote down the amount.

"So we have thirty-five dead Uchiha, one random dead dude, and an escaped psycho lecher." She pocketed the paper. "Did you're happen to say anything about being hired by the Uchiha?"

"Actually he did. Why?" Tanken asked.

"I think the Uchiha were getting back up for their Coup. And I bet you these two weren't the only ones hired by them. We better hurry and see if Kuzuri needs any help." Sairokku stood up and helped Tanken by putting her arm around her shoulder. As quickly as possible they made their way out of the police station and towards the barracks. The arrived to see a large body rocket through the roof and out of the compound. "Never mind about helping Kuzuri.

(Kuzuri's battle)

Kuzuri sunk his claws into the man. Growling the mans fingernails extended and he raked them down the left side of Kuzuri's face. He dug his other hand into Kuzuri's throat and ripped it out and kicked the man away forcibly removing the claws in his chest. Kuzuri stood up with an angry look on his face with his throat dripping blood. Slowly the wound sealed itself shut and he growled at the man. "I see you heal as fast as ever Jimmy." Another roar and the two were at it again.

"What are you doing here Bikutakurido?" Kuzuri growled out after they separated for a bit.

"Just doin a little bit of work for the Uchiha's here." Bikutakurido's wounds were healing as well. "They hired my organization to help them in their overthrowing of Konoha." With that said he tackled Kuzuri driving him through some of the beds in the barracks. He picked him up and slammed him into the ground. Picking him up by the back of his shirt he tossed him in the air and kicked him in the spine launching him across the barracks into a wall.

"And who exactly is your organization? You're part of the Akatsuki aren't you?" Kuzuri said slowly standing up. The man across from him laughed.

"Please, that little group has nothing on my organization." He kicked Kuzuri in the ribs sending him flying into the rafters. Crashing into the ground he picked Kuzuri up by his head and repeatedly bashed it into the floor. "You are weak!" He took one of his arms and dislocated it, and then he stomped on Kuzuri's ankle. "You have had dozens of opportunities to finish me off and yet you didn't." He stomped on his back and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "You should embrace you animalistic side like me."

Kuzuri growled and slashed quickly with his claws removing the man's foot from his shin. Screaming in pain the man rolled around on the ground. Kuzuri lifted him up by his shirt and impaled him through his chest to the wall. "You know why I let you live Bub? You don't kill family."

"And yet you are helping a man kill his own family?" Bikutakurido said with blood coming out of his mouth. "You're a fucking hypocrite sometimes you know that Jimmy."

"It's not my family and it's his own choice he is going to have to deal with." Kuzuri pulled him off the wall and slammed him onto his back hearing a snap. He repeatedly slammed his fist into the man's face turning it into a bloody mess. "It's a good thing for your healing factor; or I might actually feel bad for what I did to you." He said lifting the man up by his shirt. Dropping him Kuzuri launched his foot into the man's stomach and sending him flying through the ceiling and out of the building. Catching his breath he turned around and took a defensive position as the door opened. He relaxed seeing Sairokku and Tanken stumble in. "Did you two have fun?" Sairokku looked around at the massacre that happened.

"Apparently not as much as you. Do you happen to know how many Uchiha you killed?" Sairokku asked.

"Yeah thirty-five." He responded. His claws went back into his hands. "What exactly happened to you two?"

Sairokku wrote down the number and put her paper away. "Okay, we have dispatched all Uchiha in this district. And we had a not so pleasant encounter with a couple super powered people. Just as I assume you did." Kuzuri grunted.

"Well, neither of you look to be in a good enough condition to go help out at the main building. Sairokku, find out from Jingure where Shadou is at and you two go help protect them."

"What are you going to do?" Tanken asked as the three of them left the barrack. Kuzuri made a couple hand seals and spat out a ball of fire at the barracks catching the wall on fire.

"I'm going to have some more fun." With that said he ran off in the direction of the main building.

(With Bishop's Group)

"Alright you two; we are going to separate to take care of this as quickly as possible." Bishoppu said. "Sutomu, take the far right building. Habokku, take the far left building. I'll take this one and we will meet up on the other side. Keep track of how many you dispatch as we must make sure we get all of them."

Habokku took a deep breath as he stood in front of his building. "I sense the energy of sixteen people in there." Holding his right arm up and placing it against the door bright blue energy raced down his arm before pooling at his hand. "Please forgive me." With that a beam of energy shot from his hand destroying the door and continuing through the building. Four Uchiha's were unfortunate to be in the way of the beam and were killed in the blast. Walking in he had to dodge a kunai aimed for his head. He took a martial arts stance. Looking at the people in the building he counted four men, four women, and six children. Two women and children each had been killed in the initial attack. "It is unfortunate for me to do this, but for conspiring against the Hokage and planning to over throw the leadership of the village; you have all been given a guilty verdict and been sentenced to death." When he finished that he was charged by an angry man.

"You mother fucker!" He shouted as he tried to stab him with his kunai. "You killed my wife and child. I'm going to make you pay." Habokku grabbed the mans hand that held the kunai and snapped the wrist. He grasped the mans face in his hand.

"I'm sorry." He unleashed a point blank blast into the mans face killing him.

"Can't you just let us women and children go?" One woman asked. "We know nothing of what you talk about."

"I can sense the lies in your words. And you have gotten your children involved." Habokku pulled out two short swords. "You will pay for your transgressions." He rushed into the group of people. Moving quickly towards the women and children a tear went down his cheek as he separated an eight year old boy's head from his shoulders. The child's older brother screamed in rage and lunged at him only to receive a sword through the heart. Without missing a beat the mother's sobs were silenced.

Angry screams and sobbing alike were silenced as Habokku quickly and effectively eliminated the people. He stood up shuddering in disgust at what he did. "You can come out. I know you are there." He was responded by a man clapping and walking out of a shadow in the corner.

"My, my, my; that show that you just put on was simply wonderful." He told him. Habokku kept a grip on his sword and took in the mans appearance. He wore a green jumpsuit not to different from Gai's. The difference was that there were stripes of yellow and he had a red glove on his right hand. He was bald and his head had multiple scars on it. Strangely enough he wore a monocle in his right eye.

"You aren't an Uchiha; what are you doing here?" Habokku asked clearly suspicious.

"Not only is he talented, but he is smart as well." He held his right hand forward and a lightning bolt shot out at Habokku. He dodged the attack by rolling to the side. When he saw the man he was right in front of him with a knee heading towards his face. "My name is Baronsutorakka." His knee connected with Habokku's nose causing blood to gush out and sending him flying back.

Habokku rolled across the ground coming to a stop on one knee. He re-sheathed his swords and took a hand-to-hand combat stance. "You're fast and very strong. Yet I don't sense any abnormalities in you."

"Bingo, I'm just an extremely strong ninja with resources." He said holding up his right hand that crackled with electricity. He than made a couple of handseals and a dragon of fire shot towards Habokku. Habokku rolled to the side and held his right hand up shooting a blue beam at the man. It impacted with his stomach and slammed him into the wall. The man stood up and spit out a glob of blood. "I see; you are like the rest of those in our organization. It's a good thing I am not scared of your powers like others are." He rushed Habokku and they exchanged blows. Baronsutorakka tried an uppercut with his left arm. Habokku blocked it with both hands only to have his throat grabbed by the man's right hand. "This is going to be a shocking experience for you." Habokku screamed in pain as the man pumped him full of electricity. He dropped Habokku and started to walk away. "You are pathetic compared to those that I know." Habokku slowly stood up.

"We will see about that." His hands glowed blue and he rushed Baronsutorakka. The man turned around and gasped as Habokku drove his fist into the mans gut. There was a small explosion when his fist impacted. Baronsutorakka stumbled backwards. Habokku slammed another fist into his side causing another small explosion. Habokku unleashed a flurry of punches, knees, and kicks. The man rolled across the ground and hit the wall. The circle on Habokku's chest was only about a quarter of the way full now.

Baronsutorakka slowly stood up and wiped blood off of his mouth. "You are extremely obnoxious." He held his right hand forward and a large lightning ball appeared and kept growing in size. "I'm going to kill you now. This clan is nothing to my organization now with you eliminating it." Habokku held his own arm out and a large amount of the blue energy started to form in his hand and the circle in his chest emptied completely. "One final attack huh?" He unleashed the lightning attack at Habokku. He rolled forward as the attack struck the ground where he stood. Rising up onto one knee with the attack ready to fired. "Smooth play."

"Checkmate." With that said the blue beam shot out of his hand and through the strange mans chest killing him instantly. Habokku stood up slowly and stumbled out of the building into the night. He took a deep breath as he looked at the stars and the circle got a tiny bit of blue in it. "I better go make sure that Sutomu is okay." He stumbled past the middle building hearing a loud crash come from inside. "Bishop can handle himself." He made it to the last building and a silver blur rushed past him towards the middle building. He looked inside the room and saw an unconscious Sutomu laying in a pile of debris and snow.

(Sutomu)

The woman walked into the living quarters and saw five children playing happily. Another two were asleep in their beds and there were five adults in the room; two younger women, two younger men, and an elderly man. The elderly man walked up to her with a smile on his face. "Ah hello there young lady; what brings you here at such a late hour?"

"I am here to carry out a sentencing." She responded. The adults gave her a confused look and the children quit playing. "You have all been found guilty of conspiring against the Hokage and plotting to overthrow the leadership in Konoha." The adult's eyes narrowed.

"I see we have been found out." The old man said slowly unsheathing a wakizashi behind his back. Sutomu's eyes turned completely white and strangely enough dark clouds formed in the rafters of the building.

"The entirety of the Uchiha clan is to be executed for treason." The old man lunged at her with the sword when a bolt of lightning fell from a cloud and struck him followed by three more. His dead body rolled to a stop at her feet. She looked up at the remaining adults and saw all of them with weapons drawn. The oldest child was ushering the rest of them to the back of the building.

"Come on everyone. Our mom's and dad's will protect us." He reassuringly told them. The boy held his hand out and snow landed in his hand. "It's snowing indoors; how is that possible?" Snow started to come down heavily. Next to Sutomu the air and snow started to spin very fast. Pretty soon there were two tornadoes in the building. Sending them forward one of the women was quickly sucked into it. Her screams of pain were silenced as the snow in the tornado turned red with blood. The two tornadoes formed into one and stopped abruptly. When it stopped dozens of icicles, the snow in the tornado quickly formed them, shot out and killed everyone in the room except for one child.

She slowly walked forward towards the final child who was curled up into a ball crying. She picked a kunai out of a dead adults hand and squatted next to the child. Wrapping her arms around him she whispered in his ear, "Shhhh, it's all going to be over soon." With that said she stabbed the kunai into his brain. She stood up and wiped a few tears from her eyes. "Sometimes, we get the shitty missions." A loud whistling sound came from behind her and something hard impacted with the back of her head knocking her off her feet. She turned around and saw nothing. Another whistling sound to her right and her head was snapped to the side from getting hit in the cheek. "What is going on?" A whistle came from the left and at the last second she stepped back and extended her arm.

"Shit." A voice shouted. A man collided with her and spun head over heels crashing into a the wall. Sutomu took up a defensive position and observed the man in front of her. He appeared no older than eighteen with slicked back silver hair. He wore black and silver pant and a shirt of the same colors. He had padding on his elbows, knees and wore a very think vest.

"And who might you be?" She asked the man as he stood up.

"The name is Pietoro, but you can just call me Quicksilver." With that said the man disappeared in a blur of silver. The whistling sound continued around Sutomu with him hitting her every now and then. She got kicked in the back of the knees and than received an uppercut.

"Enough!" She shouted. The snow came down harder and tornadoes formed around the room. "You are trying my patience boy." A strong wind picked up as well turning the room into a blizzard. Pietoro stopped and looked at her.

"Let's see what's faster? Your weather powers or me." He disappeared again and Sutomu got pummeled. She willed the tornadoes to converge on her position and her and Pietoro both got sucked into a giant tornado.

"In here, I am the ruler." She went with the flow of the wind and started attacking Pietoro. She slammed multiple punches to the face and the stomach. Reaching out she grabbed an icicle as it went by and stabbed him in the leg.

"Damnit, you bitch." He shouted and kicked her in the face. She fell off of him and went around the tornado again. Pietoro kicked her in the stomach as she came back around. He followed it up by augmenting his punches with his speed and punching her multiple times in the face. The tornado disappeared as a punch finally knocked her unconscious. They both landed in a pile of debris. Pietoro pushed her off of him and struggled to stand up. Finally getting up her grabbed the icicle and pulled it out of his leg. "Shit that hurts." He shouted. He reached down and ripped one of Sutomu's sleeves off wrapping it around the bleeding wound. "I have to get Wildchild and get out of here." With that said he disappeared in a silver blur and ran out of the building passing Habokku. "No time to deal with you." Bursting through the door he stopped. "Shit." He shouted.

(Bishoppu)

The large man looked above the door and saw three red 'X's there. He slowly opened the door and walked through. He rose an eyebrow at the sight. The bodies of all the Uchiha that were in the building were torn apart and scattered across the entire building. A man standing in the middle of the room smiled sinisterly at him. "It was very impolite to keep me waiting." The man had long, blonde hair that was unkempt, his ears were pointed, he had elongated teeth and fingernails, and his eyes had no pupils or irises. He wore a black outfit made out of leather with various studded belts and chains on his body. He crouched down and licked blood off of a katana he was holding.

"Since you finished my job for me I will be leaving." He turned around to leave but was stopped by kunai lodging the door shut.

"You aren't leaving if I can help it." The man said. "A member in my organization saw a battle happening and came here to tell me what was going on. I was hired to help the Uchiha in their little plot two days from now, but I decided that killing them and fighting you would be much more fun." He stood up and flexed his hand cracking it. Resting the dull side of the katana on his shoulder he looked Bishoppu in the eye. "I will kill you right here, right now."

"My life won't be ending because of you." Bishoppu unsheathed a sword with his left hand and his right hand was engulfed in a red energy. The two lunged at each other and sparks flew from the swords colliding. The feral man smiled and lashed out at him with his opposite hand raking his claws across his cheek. Bishoppu hit the man in the side of the head and a loud bang came from the energy. It knocked the man away from him only for him to somersault and perch himself on a bed post. He shook his head and smacked the side of it.

"Was that supposed to hurt me; or just give me a headache?" He asked chuckling.

"I can augment the power to whatever level I want. Such as a concussive force to disorient you and make you sloppy during battle. I may need to increase the power just for you though." When he said that the energy started to glow brighter.

"Let's make this interesting." Wildchild said as he sheathed his sword on his back. "Hand-to-hand combat?" Bishoppu sheathed his sword as well. He held up both his hands in a boxer's position with both hands now glowing with energy. The psychotic man crouched down until he was resting on the balls of his feet and his hands. He rushed from his sport charging the man. He jumped up with his claws ready to maim him when Bishoppu kicked him in the ribs. He recovered in the air and pushed off of a wall tackling the man and sitting on his chest.

Claws flashing forward Bishoppu's arms were sliced open as he defended from the attack. Charging his hands with more energy a loud explosion happened when his fist connected with Wildchild's jaw knocking him off of his chest. Bishoppu stood up and took his stance again. The other man started laughing from where he lay on his back. "You broke my fucking jaw." Were the garbled words that Bishoppu could make out. The man stood up and grimacing held his jaw in place. After a minute or so he opened and closed it. "If I hadn't of been injured worse in my life; that would have been extremely painful." He said pointing a thumb at his throat where a large scar was.

The man leapt into the air and flipped over the rafters. Diving down at Bishoppu he was knocked back into the air by him clapping his energy powered hands together causing a large shockwave. He his the ceiling and than fell to the floor. Bishoppu wasted no time in running over and grabbing him by his long hair. Holding him up Bishoppu repeated punched the man in the face. Each punch resulted in a small explosion stunning and burning the man. Bishoppu finished his assault by lifting the man up and slamming him down onto his back on his knee. A loud scream and the snapping of bone was heard from the man know as Wildchild. Dropping him on the ground he stood up and the energy on his hands disappeared.

"Shit." Was heard behind him. He turned around to see who was there only to see a silver blur pass him. He quickly turned around to see Wildchild disappear in a black and silver blur. He watched the blur vanish out the door to the building. Walking out he saw Habokku carrying Sutomu.

"Find out from Jingure where they are hiding at. Tell her to pass along to Kenmijinko that he isn't needed anymore. I am going to the main house to assist in any way possible." Bishoppu ran off down the road towards the main building. Habokku looked inside the building and frowned at the massacre. He pulled out a piece of paper and placed it on the wall. Pushing chakra into it, it caught fire and than the entire wall caught fire.

"Let's get you some help."

(Itachi's Group)

Itachi and his squad more slowly and silently through the main building. It was completely dark in there. They came up to a door and paused on the outside of it. He made a couple of hand signals to Anko and he climbed up the wall and looked into the room. A family of five was asleep below. Walking along the edge of the wall Itachi positioned himself so he was above the husband. Another signal to Anko and she opened the door releasing four snakes into the room. Everyone but the one Itachi was over was bitten. Itachi silently landed on the floor and stabbed the man in the heart. Leaving the kunai he watched as the rest of the family died from the poison of Anko's snake. He quickly moved out of the room and met up with Anko and Gai at the end of the hall. "One family down."

Moving again they came to the next room. The same process as before and another family was eliminated. The next two rooms fell just as easily. They came up to two large doors and the three paused in front of them. "What is behind here Itachi-san?" Gai asked.

"This is where the clan head's family resides and where all clan meetings are held. Two of the husbands were missing from their families so I am assuming that they are in here." Itachi placed his hands on the doors and they swung open. Walking in there were five people. Four Uchiha and one man Itachi had never seen before. He was tall, muscular, and had white hair. He wore a red outfit that included a cape of the same color. He was holding a red helmet with blue lining on it. The five of them looked at Itachi and the others.

"Itachi; what is the meaning of this?" A man who resembled Itachi asked. They were interrupted by a silver blur stopping next to the man. He whispered something into his ear.

"Go, and gather those that you can." The man said. With a nod Pietoro disappeared again. "Well Fugaku; it seems that my services are no longer required."

"What are you talking about?" The same man asked.

"In this room; are the only remnants of the once prestigious Uchiha clan." The lone woman in the room gasped. "The Hokage found out about your plan and has struck with a pre-emptive strike. Since your clan has been eliminated my organization has no further desire to help you." Putting on the helmet he started to walk out of the room. When he reached the three he looked Itachi in the eye. "Could you let me by? I have no quarrel with you anymore." Itachi stepped out of the way and the men kept walking.

"Itachi what are you doing? We have to stop him." Anko shouted she went to chase after him but Itachi grabbed her wrist.

"We have a mission. He is not a part of the mission. We must finish eliminating the Uchiha clan." He told her looking at the four in front of him. The three men were arming themselves with various weapons. "Gai, you take Uchiha Kobushi; he is the one with the brass knuckles. Anko, you take Uchiha Suraisu; he is the one with the sai's. I will take my father and mother."

"You would dare to face me in battle Itachi?" Fugaku growled out. "Your group makes a mockery of the Uchiha clan. You bring the sixteen year old snake slut, you yourself are only seventeen years of age, the only one who will be a challenge is Gai."

"Believe what you may, but I am the only one capable of defeating you." Itachi took out his two wakizashi's while his father unsheathed his two Katanas.

"Even your weapons are of lower class than mine." With him saying that the three men charged the group.

(Anko)

Anko leaned backwards evading Suraisu's sais. Snapping her foot up the man jumped back dodging. Pulling out two kunai she frowned as the man already had his Sharingan activated with three tomoe in each eye. "You won't win this one. You will die here." He shouted. Lunging at her he lashed out to the left. When she dodged he slashed her in the thigh. Stumbling she was kicked in the chest and was sent rolling across the ground. "You can't defeat the mighty power of the Sharingan."

Slowly getting up Anko adopted a strange stance. Her body was swaying back and forth and she held the two kunai at shoulder height. "Lucky for me; my bastard sensei taught me a way to defeat the Sharingan." Moving quickly she feinted a punch from the right. Lashing out with her left hand the man blocked it only to receive a kick to the groin. The man collapsed and she jumped away. Standing up the man scowled at the woman.

"Such dishonorable tactics."

"We are ninja aren't we? We use whatever means possible to win a battle as quickly and effectively." Anko told him still swaying. "Shouldn't your wonderful Sharingan have protected you from my blow."

"It didn't catch it. You looked in my eyes only for the feint attack. Before your second one you closed your eyes. On top of your body movements my Sharingan cant read you." He rushed forward again. "This doesn't mean I can't defeat you though." Anko started to quickly run through hand seals. "No technique will save you from me."

"I can think of one." She said. Finishing on the rooster seal she closed her eyes. "Himitsu ato: Mabayui bakari no furasshu no Jutsu!" A surge of chakra rushed to her hands and erupted out in the form of a bright flash of light. The sudden technique blinded Suraisu and he stumbled falling to the ground. She walked over to the man and he was rolling on the ground clutching his eyes which were now a milky white.

"What have you done to me?" He shouted at her.

"The one thing all Uchiha's dread. Losing their precious Sharingan." She spun her kunai around. "You can thank Orochimaru for that technique as well." She than took the kunai and stabbed it through his forehead killing him.

(Gai)

Gai's battle was going slightly different than Anko's did. The two men stood face to face with each other and were slugging it out. After continuing to throw punches into each others faces Kobushi kicked Gai in the side knocking him away. "I am the number on Taijutsu user in the Uchiha clan. With my Sharingan that makes me the best in the village. I don't wish to harm you Gai-san please stop this nonsense."

"You wish to destroy the beautiful village that I have grown to love. Your unyouthfulness cannot go unpunished." The man in green shouted back at the man.

"We don't want to destroy Konoha. We simply want to make it a strong military power once again. Other villages look down on us for our peaceful ways. We want the world to fear us not mock us." Kobushi shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. You are to innocent Gai." Gai responded by appearing in front of the man and slamming a fist into his stomach.

"You don't wish to be mocked, yet you mock others yourself?" He slammed an elbow into the side of the mans head and grabbed him by the arm before he could fly away. 'You say I don't understand when you don't understand yourself." He kicked him in the ribs. "People say I am innocent because of how I act." A punch breaking the mans nose caused him to scream out in pain. "I act like this not because I'm innocent, but because of what I have done in the past." He kicked the man in the kneecap causing another scream as his leg bent the wrong way. "Many people don't know my history. I was once a member of the Hokage's elite ANBU. Given the most difficult and morally objectable missions that villages receive. My last mission is what caused me to quit." He picked the man up and slammed him into the ground. "We were tasked with eliminating an entire orphanage because it was being funded and providing ninja for the Rock." He stomped on the mans stomach. "I act the way I do, because I will never forget the looks on the children's faces or the sounds of their screams."

"Why participate in another massacre such as this than?" The man asked coughing out blood.

"I am doing what is best for my village. You wished to over throw the leadership; not thinking about the civil war that would ensue and rip it apart. This; is the lesser of two evils." Gai raised his leg up over his head. "I would rather remove a cancer from my village than have to fight my brothers in a battle. You don't wish to be a part of Konoha anymore. Your ignorance is the cause of your death." With that said Gai dropped an axe kick on the man's chest shattering it and destroying his heart.

(Itachi)

Swords clashed and sparks flew. Itachi looked on impassively at his father's angry face. Separating the blades Itachi went to kick his father. The man jumped backwards avoiding the attack. "I can't believe you Itachi. You would turn your back on your clan. You would turn on the people who raised you?" Itachi scoffed at the man.

"Raised me? You did no such thing." He said as his Sharingan activated with three tomoe in them. His father did the same having the same eyes as him. "All you did was push me into training. Forcing me to strive to be the best. I had no childhood. No friends. The only person who did any sort of raising was mother. She was the only one who showed any kind of love for me."

"We strived to make you the best because we have been planning this since you were born. We needed you to help the clan rise to power." His father rushed him again snarling in anger as all of his moves were blocked. "You may have the same Sharingan as myself, but I have been fighting with mine for longer." He slashed at Itachi's knees only for the boy to jump and kick him in the chin and away from him.

"You may have had yours longer, but you haven't been active for ten years." Itachi looked down. "And I don't have the same Sharingan as you." He looked up and his eyes were now black shuriken surrounded by red. His father dropped his swords in surprise.

"How is this possible? How could you have the Mangekyou?" Realization dawned on his face. "Shisui, you were his murderer."

"I did not murder him. He confronted me about whether I would participate in the attack or not. When I said no he attacked me out of anger. I was simply defending myself." His father scowled at him.

"You probably don't know how to use your new Sharingan." Fugaku stated. "I will kill you and obtain the Mangekyou myself. Either through killing you or I will just take yours. He picked up his swords and rushed Itachi again. Itachi did not attack, he simply dodge all of his fathers. With each dodge his father got angrier and angrier. "You dare mock me boy!"

"You're right I am. Simply because you bore me." Knocking Fugaku's swords to the side Itachi stabbed him through the stomach. Coughing out blood Fugaku looked down in shock. He collapsed to his knees. "You are no challenge for me. I refuse to let Sachiko be raised in this environment. Tsukiyomi." When Itachi said that they were transported to a black and white world with a red sky. Fugaku was tied to a cross and Itachi stood in front of him with a katana. "You are in my world now. 72 hours will pass in here, while only three seconds will pass in the real world. You will be tortured continuously for the duration of the technique." Hundreds of bladed weapons appeared floating in the air. Methodically they started to pierce and leave Fugaku only to be replaced by another weapon. They started to move faster before they all attacked at once. Fugaku screamed in pain the entire time. "One second has passed; get ready for more." In the real world Itachi walked away from his fathers screaming body and up to his mother.

"Please Itachi; don't kill me." His mother begged.

"All these years; you pretending to love me and care for me." His mother was crying.

"No it wasn't pretending."

"Why did you never tell me of this plan than?" The woman continued sobbing. "You will not do the same to my sister." He lifted up his wakizashi and held it up to her neck. "I did love you mother." He swung it back and than forward cutting her head off. His mother's body fell to the side and a small knife dropped out of her hand. Turning away from the headless body he walked to his father's body. He was looking at the ceiling with a blank look in his eyes. "Good-bye father." He stabbed the same wakizashi into the man's forehead ending his life. He slowly stood up and looked at Anko and Gai. "Let's meet up with the others." They made their way out of the main building and met up with Kuzuri and Bishoppu.

"So I take it you won't be needing any help Bub?" Kuzuri asked. At Itachi's shake of his head Kuzuri nodded. "Hey Jingure can you hear me?" He asked out loud. A couple seconds later he spoke again. "Are there any Uchiha that we missed?" Another couple seconds of silence. "Alright we got them all." He looked at Itachi. "Shouldn't you be getting out of here now?" The man nodded his head and started to walk away. "The Hokage has one last mission for you. It seems that the Kumo delegation was a front to kidnap a Hyuuga child. Kill the delegation on your way out." Nodding his head Itachi disappeared.

Itachi reached one of the ANBU members holding up the barrier. "The mission is complete. I must leave now." The ANBU acknowledged the statement and disabled the barrier. Running out of the compound he rushed to the Hyuuga's area. He arrived at a building on the outskirts of the compound and caught three chakra signatures running away from them. Quickly he pursued after them. He caught up and activated his Mangekyou. "Amaterasu." A stream of jet black flames shot out of his left eye and quickly incinerated the closest person to him. The remaining two stopped and looked at Itachi; the leader of the delegation had a burlap sack over his shoulder. Dropping the bag the two lunged at Itachi. With a flash of silver they were both cut down by Itachi's wakizashi's. "Pathetic."

"What took you so long Itachi?" A deep voice said from behind him. Itachi turned around and kneeled.

"I apologize leader-sama. I had to play the part of loyal shinobi and do one final mission for the Hokage."

"By striking down this delegation from Kumo?"

"No, I did that because they were witnesses to me leaving this village. And I simply wanted to test out the abilities of the Mangekyou on a non Konoha shinobi."

"What was your mission?"

"To eliminate the Uchiha clan." The man stiffened at this.

"Why would the Hokage order that?" He asked his voice tinted with anger.

"They were planning to overthrow the leadership in the village. I would have left them be and just escaped, but I figured that eliminating them would assist your goals in the long run." Itachi told him still kneeling.

"How does this help me? If the village turned to civil war it would have been weakened."

"I feel it is more weakened now than if that were the case. If they were to have overthrown you would still have the Uchiha clan to deal with if you chose to attack the village. Along with any who sympathize with the Uchiha. There are also those who would defend the village no matter what. With the strongest clan in the village eliminated they are much weaker than losing a few powerful ninja."

"Good, you have passed my test. You are already doing much to further the deeds of the Akatsuki." The man turned around. "Let's go; we have a long ways to travel." With that said the two men vanished as a Hyuuga scouting party led by Hyuuga Hiashi arrived in the clearing. Seeing the dead bodies they rushed to the sack and opened it up pulling the unconscious child out of it. There were cheers of happiness as an ANBU squad and the Hokage arrived at the scene.

"I see that the child has been recovered." Hiruzen said.

"Yes; while I'm relieved Hinata was at a friend's house this incident still worries me. Who stopped the delegation also?"" Hiashi asked.

"Turtle, have your squad take the Hyuuga's away from here. I must speak with Hiashi." The ANBU nodded their heads and started moving. "Don't go to far as Hiashi will need to speak with them." Leading the Hyuuga away; the Hokage and Hiashi were left alone. "You remember the mission that I gave out tonight correct?"

"Yes, you told me along with the elders."

"Itachi has left the village. He will be officially charged with the massacre of the Uchiha clan. He will also be charged with the international crime of killing a delegation from Kumo in cold blood." Hiashi went to protest but the Hokage held a hand up. "If we tell them that they were killed while in possession of a Hyuuga child; they will demand for compensation in regards to their dead delegation. Most likely demanding a Hyuuga either way. If they believe that Itachi killed them before they kidnapped the child, we can form an alliance based on a common enemy. I promise you that they will know Itachi killed them while in possession of the child. This is going to be a tentative alliance, but they are holding an election for the new Raikage soon; so hopefully he will be more understanding."

"I understand Hokage-sama." Hiashi said bowing. "You have changed; more militaristic than before." The man started to walk away.

"I finally understand that we can't just live peacefully in a world comprised of shinobi. Make sure you pass along that no one was kidnapped to your entire clan and the search party. We need this to be real hush hush." With a nod Hiashi walked off. Jumping to the roofs Hiruzen started to make his way to the Uchiha compound with the ANBU squad led by Turtle meeting up. "You all saw nothing in that clearing correct?" The Hokage asked them.

"Yes sir." Everyone responded. Arriving at the compound they landed inside to see massacred bodies. "Who could have done this?" Turtle asked.

"I don't know let's find out." The Hokage asked. Seeing a red head he spoke up. "Jingure come here." The woman looked at him before running over. "Do you know what happened here?" He noticed scratches on her face and a bruise on her cheek.

"Yes sis. Kenmijinko, Shadoukyatto, and myself were heading home from a patrol mission when we heard screaming come from inside here. We decided to investigate and found Uchiha Itachi killing his clan. We moved quickly to try to find survivors. Reaching a building in the living quarters we found three toddlers still alive. We made to escape with them when we were set upon by Itachi himself. We were lucky to get out of there alive. Using my powers I contacted Dr. Shimo in the hospital to protect the newborns there since I had no way of knowing if Itachi would move after them. She then relayed to me that she had two shinobi recovering from a training accident and a fellow doctor protecting the infants."

"What of the infant's parents?" The Hokage asked.

"According to protocol, the children must stay three days at the hospital after birth and the mothers must return to their residences to prevent unfortunate postpartum instances due to the stress of childbirth and a shinobi lifestyle. So unfortunately they were here when the massacre happened." The Hokage frowned

"Why are you still here?"

"The three of us decided to help in assisting the ANBU squads in containing the situation."

"Alright thank you, continue with the cleanup." The woman bowed to the Hokage and ran off to help collect bodies.

"Hokage-sama, shouldn't we collect some of the Uchiha eyes and DNA?" Turtle asked.

"No, we aren't going to have a bunch of Kakashi's running around. The man has slacked off in his training and has become weaker. Implanting the eyes of an Uchiha into a normal person put's unneeded stress on the shinobi and makes them cocky. And why would we need DNA?"

"I'm not quite sure. I was just thinking because they are such a valuable clan."

"No, the bodies will all be disposed of. Didn't you hear what Jingure said? They rescued three toddlers and we have four newborns at the hospital. It will take time but those seven will reform the Uchiha clan." A tiger masked ANBU showed up in front of the group kneeling.

"Hokage-sama; Inoichi asked me to report to you. He heard of the attack and felt that you should know that Uchiha Sachiko is safe at his residence. She was over for a slumber party."

"Thank you Tiger. You can start assisting in the clean up here." He left only to be replaced by Lion seconds later. He was holding a large number of documents. "What do you have to report?"

"Hokage-sama; while retrieving the bodies of those in the clan heads building I found these laying on a table in the room." The Hokage read them and scowled. "Turtle, take your squad and go call all the clan heads together for an emergency council meeting. Lion, go retrieve all documents from the main building that relate to this." Lion bowed and ran back over to the main building.

"What is it Hokage-sama?" Turtle asked.

"It seems our dear Uchiha clan was plotting to overthrow the village. Move quickly." The squad bowed before using a Shunshin and disappearing. Eagle appeared in a cloud of smoke kneeling before the Hokage. "Speed up the process of the disposal and tell all who participated in the mission to report tomorrow morning to my office. Than go to the Yamanaka residence and tell Inoichi to bring Naruto and Sachiko by."

"As you wish Hokage-sama." With that said Eagle moved quickly to carry out his orders. The Hokage watched over the work until it was finished. Lion came back up to him with more documents.

"Thank you Lion. What exactly is the damage report?" He asked.

"All Uchiha that were supposed to be in the compound were eliminated. Four newborns have been retrieved, three toddlers, and Sachiko are all safe. All remains have been destroyed by fire and four building have been destroyed by fire as well. The police barracks and the three residential buildings." He said kneeling.

"We need an entire cleansing of this area. Send one of your squad and retrieve Hatake Kakashi. I know there are secret rooms that can only be seen with a Sharingan. Your squad is to stay with him and collect all documents here. Whether it be birth records or shopping receipts; I want everything. Start with the main building than do the Police station. Do two sweeps of each building, when you are done destroy them. We will clear out the area and create a new Konoha Police. Retrieve anything that is of value as well." Bowing his head Lion signaled one of his members. Relaying the order to get Hatake, the Bull masked ANBU was gone.

"It will be done." He went and gathered the rest of his squad passing along the message. He handed each member a scroll. "I want Bear, Rhino, and Hyena to go to the Police Station and retrieve all the documents and police records there. Any slip of paper gets put into your scroll. Use Kage Bunshin sparingly." The three nodded their heads and disappeared. "Hawk, Coyote, and Gazelle move to the main building and do the same. Move quickly." A quick bow and the other three were gone.

The Hokage left the area and made his way to the tower with the documents. He walked in and up to the floor where the council chambers were. Walking into the room he was greeted by irritated clan heads. Danzou, Homura, and Koharu were there as well. "No offence Hokage-same, but this better be good." Chouza Akimichi said sleepily.

"I think the death of the Uchiha clan is very important." He replied.

"What do you mean the death of the Uchiha?" Nara Shikaku asked.

"Tonight, while everyone was busy dealing with the delegation from Kumo; Uchiha Itachi went to his clan's compound and massacred every member there." Silence was his answer. "This event isn't a complete tragedy though. Three shinobi were on their way back to their residences when they heard a commotion from the compound and were able to save three young Uchiha children. And acting quickly they were able to pass a message on to the hospital staff and four newborns were protected. I also received word from Yamanaka Inoichi himself that Uchiha Sachiko is safe at his residence."

"This is true Hokage-sama. She is currently asleep with her friends." The blonde haired man said.

"Unfortunately, as he was escaping the village he killed the Kumo delegation as they were heading back to their hotel. So effective immediately Uchiha Itachi will go into the Bingo Book as an S-Rank Missing-Nin guilty of the murder of the Uchiha clan. We will contact Kumo in regards if they wish to add an international crime to the entry."

"This is very unfortunate and illogical." Aburame Shino said. "Why would Uchiha Itachi kill his family?"

"Evidence has shown that Itachi was also guilty of murdering his longtime friend, Shisui. With Uchiha legends, killing your best friend unlocks a new stage of the Sharingan. My speculation is that after killing his best friend the new form of the sharingan was unlocked and it caused a severe psychological reaction." Hiruzen said.

"Well this is shitty." Inuzaka Tsume said. "They were great for the village."

"It looks like the Uchiha weren't as good for the village as everyone thinks." The Hokage handed the documents he had out. "According to these documents, which were recovered from the scene, the Uchiha were plotting to overthrow the council and Hokage. Thus taking control of the village."

"Two day's from now during the opening of the new academy nonetheless. This would have blindsided everyone." Inoichi stated. "With this information I'm not sure that Itachi should be a criminal other than the fact that he is obviously crazy."

"Regardless of what the Uchiha clan was plotting, Itachi still performed a horrendous crime that he won't be absolved for." The Hokage said. "I will announce the happenings of the night to the village tomorrow. Even the parts about them planning the coup. We will make all documents available in the public library. Itachi is technically the head of the clan, but since he is now rouge Sachiko is the new head of the clan since she is the oldest of the still living and loyal Uchiha. Her and the rest of the Uchiha children will be appointed guardians and live in the same building. The Uchiha district is going to be destroy and rebuilt to a smaller scale. The police station will be destroyed and rebuilt larger with two divisions. One to catch civilian criminals and the other to catch shinobi criminals. The shinobi division will also be the headquarters for our hunter-nin division. To said actions do any oppose?" The Hokage asked. No one raised their hands. "To said actions do any agree?" Everyone in the room raised their hands. "Than it is done. I will need all of you to make sure that all the villagers know about the announcement tomorrow. It will be given in the square outside of the tower. You are all dismissed."

The clans head all got up in shock at the events of the night and started to file out. Eventually it was just Hiruzen, Danzou, Homura, and Koharu in the room as the doors shut. "So the mission went smoothly?" Koharu asked once they were sure everyone was gone.

"Yes it did. It went perfectly." Hiruzen said. He looked at a document. "There was something in there that none of us knew about." He snapped a finger and Koharu and Homura were restrained by Eagle and Tiger.

"What is the meaning of this Hiruzen?" Homura shouted.

"According to a set of documents found in Fugaku's study; you two would have become the advisors to Fugaku as he would become Hokage."

"That was just to make him trusting of us and suspect nothing." Koharu stuttered out.

"Oh really? What about the part of the document that says you will be paid 10,000,000 ryou for assisting?" Homura and Koharu tried stuttering out excuses. "Enough!" He shouted at them. "Take them to Ibiki for a night of fun. Tell Ibiki to have them prepared for execution in the square tomorrow after he interrogates them first." The two people screamed as the ANBU disappeared with them.

"That is a very interesting development." Danzou said from beside the Hokage.

"It gives us a perfect scapegoat." Hiruzen said pulling out a blank paper. He wrote down quickly on it and stamped it with his seal. He than wrote down on another piece of paper. "I will discuss with the clan leaders tomorrow before the announcement that we will say the two of them ordered the killing of the Uchiha clan by Itachi. To back this I will have Ibiki forge a document of his findings that Itachi was an agent of theirs and that he told them that Fugaku would kill both of them after they took power. And with these documents, and those two gone, no one will know the difference." Danzou chuckled before it turned into full blown laughter.

"So this is the cunning of The Professor?" Danzou asked before he did something that shocked Hiruzen. He kneeled to him. "I have no doubt that with this change in you; our village will be respected once more. And it may sound redundant as you already knew this, but I pledge my services to your cause one hundred percent." Eagle returned to the council chamber and the Hokage handed him the second paper.

"Deliver this to Ibiki, and tell him to cut the traitors tongues out." Eagle bowed and disappeared again. "Tomorrow will be a stressful day. I'm going to rest for the night. Goodnight my friend."

"Goodnight to you Hokage-sama." With that said the two went their separate ways.

(The Next Day)

The Hokage sat in his office in front of a large group of people. "You all performed your roles perfectly. I would like to congratulate you all on a job well done." Various members of the group had bandages and injuries. He looked at Jingure's group who were very banged up. "What happened to your group Jingure?"

"When we arrived at the building the toddlers were in we found a crazy man started to kill the residents. We located the three targets and went to get them when he turned his sights on us. Most of the injuries came from protecting the three from the man. So they will actually believe that we rescued them." Jingure told him.

"Ah I see." The Hokage said. "We obtained documents about their plans and will present them to the village. There will be uproar, but it will settle once we make the documents available to the public. Unfortunately, Itachi must be labeled a criminal as we all understand." At the solemn nods he continued. "Moving on, you all know of the empty area behind your apartment complex correct?" Everyone nodded except Gai and Anko. "We will be building a large compound for you all and you will move out of the apartments."

"Why do that Hokage-sama?" Shadou asked.

"That's because you will become the guardians to the Uchiha survivors."

"Hell no old man. You aren't roping me into this shit again." Kuzuri said.

"I'm not asking you to adopt the children; although if one of you wishes to you can go through the screening and interviews for the possibility to. I'm just asking for you to look after them. When they are old enough to understand tell them about what the village thinks happens. Once Sachiko is old enough, or in the event she marries the next oldest becomes clan head, they will move into the rebuilt Uchiha compound. Until the new compound is built though the infants will stay at the hospital. The toddlers will require homes though. So I have selected Sutomu, Jingure, and Shadoukyatto to each care for one."

"Why me Hokage?" Sutomu asked.

"I chose you because you were an orphan yourself. You will be able to help the child through this ordeal. I chose Jingure and Shadoukyatto because they rescued them so the children will feel safe with them." The three women reluctantly agreed. "Construction has already started since the academy has been completed. I have offered a big pay bonus if they could finish within the next three months so they are working harder than usual. With that being said and done you are all except for Kuzuri. The three identified women, you can go to the hospital trauma center to get the children." Everyone left except for Kuzuri.

"You're not going to talk me into adopting another brat are you?" Kuzuri asked when the doors shut.

"No I'm not, but I do have a big favor to request of you."

"Alright what is it?"

"I need you to become the guardian of Sachiko."

"Why don't you get one of the girls to do it?"

"None of them is the parent of her best friend Naruto. I have thought all morning about this Kuzuri and you are the best choice. She will need to be told about what happened and will need Naruto for the after effect. Inoichi is bringing both of them now and I will tell both about it. Please do this for me." The look in the Hokage's eyes was practically begging him.

"Alright Hiruzen. I'm not doing this for you though; I'm doing it for the girl. I know what it feels like to go through a traumatizing event and have no one there for me."

"Thank you." There was a knock on the door and Inoichi walked in with two happy children beside him.

"Well we are here Hokage-sama." Inoichi said. Naruto happily rushed over and hugged the Hokage.

"Alright thank you Inoichi. You can go now." The Hokage said putting Naruto on the ground. The blonde haired man bowed and left closing the door behind him. "Naruto, can you and Sachiko please sit next to you father over there." Naruto did as was told and brought had Sachiko sit next to him. "Thank you."

"I can see you're serious gramps." The boy said with a smile.

"A very horrible thing happened last night that you two need to know about." The two children looked worried. "Now Sachiko, I know you are a very smart and mature girl for your age correct?" The girl slowly nodded. "What I am about to say; I need you to listen completely to everything I am going to say okay?" Again she slowly nodded. "We found evidence that there was a group of ninja who were plotting to kill me and all of your friend's parents so that they could be the rulers of the village. Many other people would have died and possibly even the village could have been destroyed, do you two understand."

"Yes." They both said.

"Good. Now none of us knew this except my old teammates. They knew because they were plotting with the people. They had a spy in the group who told them that they were going to be killed after the group took over. My two teammates didn't like this very much and they ordered their spy to kill the entire group, and last night he did. Are you two still following me?"

"Yes." This time only Sachiko spoke out and Naruto nodded.

"Here is the part where I need you to try to stay calm okay Sachiko?" The girl nodded again. "The spy was your brother Uchiha Itachi."

"That must have been the important thing he mentioned to me last night." Sachiko said.

"Gramps, who was the group of people?" Naruto asked.

"The group was the entire Uchiha clan." Was the Hokage's response. Sachiko's world fell apart around her.

"Momma's gone?" Was all she asked. Naruto quickly hugged the girl. "I'm the only one left besides brother?" Tears started to come down her cheeks.

"No you aren't the only ones left. Naruto's aunts and one of their friend were coming back from a mission and managed to save some children from your brother. And there were some babies in the hospital. We have evidence that a very traumatizing event happened to Itachi which made him accept this mission. He was not in the right state of mind when it happened. Despite how horrible of an action this was, he saved the village in the process. If they hadn't of been stopped everyone you know could have been killed, even Naruto." The girl was still crying heavily, but nodded her head. The Hokage stood up and walked around his desk and kneeled in front of the girl. "I want you to remember Itachi as the loving big brother he is. Not the person he turned into after his friend died. Kuzuri is going to take you home with him and Naruto now okay?" The girl nodded again. Her tears lightened up a little bit.

"I'm going to get strong and make Itachi-nii all better and bring him back." The girl said.

"Are you sad about your family?" The Hokage asked.

"Yes I am; the only person that liked me though was mom. Everyone else acted funny around me. I will miss her, but I won't forget about her."

"You're a very strong and brave little girl Sachiko." The Hokage said.

"Of course she is, Sachiko is the best." Naruto said. A sad smile came onto the girls face as Kuzuri stood up.

"Alright let's go you two. We have to get Sachiko some clothes and other stuff if she is going to be staying with us for a while. And you still have training today Naruto." The boy groaned as Kuzuri picked Sachiko up and walked out of the Hokage's office.

(Later that day)

The Hokage made the announcement to the rest of the village. Obviously displeased they took it out on the shackled forms of Koharu and Homura. "These two will be executed for ordering the death of the entire Uchiha clan. Through the quick thinking of a few shinobi we were able to save some children. Ibiki if you would be so kind as to eliminate the traitors." The large man nodded and hefted a large axe. Bringing it down he severed Koharu's head from his body. The crowd cheered and he did the same to Homura. "My village! While this is indeed a horrible event; I have no doubt that we will move on and get stronger because of it. Let us grow form this in memory of all the innocents killed by those two's orders." The crowd cheered in agreement as the Hokage walked back inside to find Danzou waiting for him.

"What a wonderfully prepared speech." He said.

"I have to prevent mass hysteria from spreading. Make sure documents are given to the mail service saying everything we plan to do in the wake of this." Danzou nodded his head and left. "Another speech tomorrow; this time for the fruits of all our labors the past two years to be reaped."

(With Kuzuri)

The three arrived at Kuzuri's apartment with a couple bags of stuff. "Naruto why don't you take these into your bedroom and change into your training stuff."

"You got it." Naruto happily did as told and disappeared into his room. Sachiko sat down on the couch and Kuzuri squatted down in front of her.

"I'm bad at giving kids advice, but I understand this is probably pretty traumatizing. I have been through some really traumatizing stuff so I just want to let you know that if you ever need someone to talk to I'm here okay?" The girl nodded with tears in her eyes again. "And you also have Naruto. Both of us will always be here for you okay?" The girl lunged and hugged the man sobbing into his shoulder.

"I can't believe they are all gone." She cried out.

"Shh it's okay. Cry it all out. Scream all of your sadness out." He said patting her back. The girl did just that. She screamed and cried into Kuzuri's shoulder for a good five minutes. Still crying a little she let go of the man and sat back down on the couch.

"Thank you Kuzuri-san." She said to the man.

"Don't worry about it squirtette." He told her. "Nothing will ever bring them back. No matter what you do; you can't change that. But there are others from your family that you can help through this by being strong and a good role model. Always carry the memory of your family in your heart." He said touching her heart. The girl quit crying and nodded her head. The sound of a door closing had both of them look at Naruto.

"I'm ready to train." He said smiling.

"Alright." Kuzuri stood up and stretched. "I'm going to need you to come with us so I can keep an eye on you okay Sachiko?"

"Okay." She stood up. "Kuzuri-san?"

"Just call me Kuzuri. And what do ya need?" He asked her.

"Well can I train with Naruto?"

"Of course you can. It's a good thing I bought you those training clothes. Go and change and we will head over there." Ten minutes later they were standing in the training room.

"Kuzuri, what are these pockets in the shirt for? And these straps on my legs." Kuzuri opened up his duffel bag and pulled out a handful of small discs. Placing them in the spots the girl hunched over. "This is heavy." Naruto laughed at her.

"The same thing happened to me." Kuzuri placed discs in Naruto's training clothes and the boy sagged a little. "How heavy did you make mine dad?"

"Hers are the pound and a half that you started out with. You are at three pounds each Naruto." Activating the walls in the square. "Why don't you give her the run down of the routine and than we will get started."

"Are you kidding me?" The girl shouted. "I never did anything that hard when I was trained before."

"Welcome to Kuzuri's super special training." He looked at his watch than smirked at the two. "Now get running." With Sachiko silently complaining to herself Naruto and her started running. "Having two guinea pigs is going to be fun." Kuzuri said to himself with a chuckle. Hours later Naruto and Sachiko lay on their backs tired and sore. "Alright not a bad day of training. You two get the rest of the week off since you start the academy tomorrow."

"Yay." Naruto groaned out. Kuzuri chuckled and removed the discs from Sachiko's clothing and picked her up.

"Alright Naruto let's go." Slowly the boy got up and stumbled along behind his father to his apartment. "Sachiko gets to shower and change first." He set the girl in the bathroom and gave her a change of clothes. "Here you go." With that he left the girl in the bathroom. Walking out he chuckled as he saw Naruto sitting at the kitchen table with his head on the table. He ruffled the boy's hair as he got a beer from the fridge. "You know the training is only going to get harder right?'

"Don't remind me. I like being surprised." He sarcastically responded.

"Just remember; if you reach an acceptable level according to me by the end of your first year I will start teaching you some martial arts." He said taking a drink of his beer. There was a knock on his door and he walked over to open it and saw an angry Ema. "Hey there beautiful."

"Don't you hey there beautiful me. I saw who you were with last night. Those two hussies. Thinking you could get away with it." She snapped at the man.

"You know that's not how it was. It was an assignment. Even if I asked for different people I would have gotten turned down." He told her.

"It doesn't mean I'm happy with it." She pouted and crossed her arms.

"Hey, keep an eye on Naruto real quick." Kuzuri hurried outside and up the stairs leaving a confused woman and Naruto alone. The bathroom door opened and a showered Sachiko walked out of the bathroom.

"Um where is Kuzuri-san?" She asked walking into the living room.

"Sweet my turn for a shower." Naruto said walking pass Sachiko. "You know my mom right?" He shut the door of the bathroom and left an even more confused Ema with a slightly confused Sachiko.

"Hello Ema-san." She said waving slightly.

"Hi Sachiko-chan. What are you doing here?" Ema asked.

"Well I'm going to be staying here with Naruto-kun and Kuzuri-san for a while."

"That's good. You will enjoy your time here." She turned around at the sound of footsteps and saw Kuzuri with Shishi.

"Shishi is going to babysit the kids; me and you are going out tonight." Kuzuri said. He pulled Ema outside and shoved Shishi into the apartment shutting the door behind him. Shishi blinked his eyes a couple times and looked at the small girl.

"Um hello." He waved at the girl and she promptly screamed. The bathroom door swung open and a soaking wet Naruto came rushing out.

"What happened Sachiko-chan?" He asked her. She pointed at the large man. "Oh, that's just Fuwafuwa; he babysits me when mom and dad go out spontaneously."

"Naruto." Shishi said. "Don't you know that it is indecent to run around naked?" He scolded. Sachiko seemed to take notice of Naruto's lack of clothes and promptly blushed before fainting. Shishi sighed and walked over to the girl. "Naruto finish your shower and I'll make dinner."

"I can't believe you made Sachiko-chan faint. That wasn't nice Fuwafuwa." The boy said closing the bathroom door.

"That boy certainly knows how to lighten things up." Shishi placed Sachiko on the couch and walked into the kitchen. Opening the fridge he pulled some food and a beer out. "I have a feeling I will need one of these tonight." He opened it and took a drink as he started to prepare the food.

\/\/

Translations-

Technique:

Himitsu ato: Mabayui bakari no furasshu no Jutsu- Secret Art: Blinding Flash Technique

Names:

Naitokurora- Nightcrawler

Hankan- Warpath

Dr. Seshiria- Dr. Cecilia (Cecilia Reyes)

Tanken- Dagger

Sairokku- Psylocke

Habokku- Havok

Sutomu- Storm

Bikutakurido- Victor Creed

Baronsutorakka- Baron Strucker

Pietoro- Pietro (Quicksilver)

A/N: Well there is chapter five. It turned out being much longer than I was expecting it to be. It was my first attempt at action scenes. I ended the battles exactly as I saw them happening. There will be more of the organization they faced off against so expect more Deadpool in the future. One thing I don't like about the manga is that it never truly explains why Gai acts the way he does; so I gave my version of it. Next chapter is finally the academy starting up. I will cover the first four years next chapter and the final four in the one after it. Everyone of the "Rookie generation" is eight years old. As for Sachiko's quick recovery after finding out her family was dead; I chalk that up to the entire clan acting cold to her as in the manga with Sasuke. The only two who were nice to Sasuke was Itachi and his mom; I just made it the same as that. As usual I hope you enjoyed the read.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A/N: So I'm very irritated. I had this chapter half way done (which happened to be 17k words at the halfway point); and my laptop crashes. So I had to get a new laptop and start over from scratch. Which is for the best. Originally I had it going through an entire day of class each year; now I will just be going through what I think will be the most important. Well here we go with chapter six. I changed my mind about the chapters coming up. This will cover the first four years, next chapter will be a little action, and the one after that will be the final four years in the academy. Read and Enjoy; and if your desire, review.

The next morning Kuzuri woke up at five. He went through his morning routine of a shower and getting dressed. He finished at five thirty and flicked Naruto, who was sleeping on the couch, in the forehead. The boy groaned and sat up holding the spot. "What was that for?"

"It's time for you to start getting ready for your first day of the academy." Kuzuri told him.

Naruto looked at the clock and his jaw dropped. "It's five thirty-five; why so early." His response was another flick to the forehead.

"Because we have another guest in the house and one bathroom. So hurry up and get ready." The boy grumbled but went into the bathroom. Walking into the kitchen Kuzuri opened the fridge and started pulling food for breakfast out. Naruto's bedroom door opened and Sachiko walked out rubbing her eyes. "Good morning Sachiko; how did you sleep?"

"I had a bad dream about Itachi-nii-san and my clan." She replied quietly. Kuzuri walked over to her and squatted down so he was looking her in the eyes.

"I know everything you found out yesterday is hard for you to wrap your head around, but I want you to know that me and Naruto will be here for you." The girl nodded with a smile on her face. "Why don't you go get some clothes to wear for the day and take a shower when Naruto gets out?" The girl went back into the room she came from and Naruto opened the door to the bathroom. He wore a pair of black pants with a plain white t-shirt. Walking over to the table he sat down as Sachiko took the bathroom and Kuzuri started making breakfast.

"So what did you and mom do last night?" The boy asked.

"We just went to get a quick bite to eat and talk about some important grown up stuff." He replied as he put a couple sausages into a pan.

"What kind of grown up stuff?" Kuzuri put some bacon in with the sausage and started cooking some eggs.

"Maybe when you get older I'll explain it to you." The boy pouted as Sachiko came out of the bathroom. She was wearing a pair of black pants and a dark blue shirt. Sitting down at the table Kuzuri placed a plate in front of the two children before sitting down with his own plate. "I have to go to the Academy early today; so I'm having Inoichi pick you two up and taking you both to the academy with Ino." Sachiko frowned and Naruto smiled.

"Cool; I get to spend time with my two best friends this morning." He said. "What time do you have to go to the Academy?"

"I have to be there at seven-thirty to finish setting up a couple things for the class I am teaching. This is the only day I have to be early. So I will be able to walk you two after today."

"What are you teaching? You never did tell me." Naruto asked.

"I can't tell you; it's a secret." Kuzuri told him. The boy pouted again. "It's going to be a lot of fun for me though." Naruto and Sachiko gulped loudly at the smile on the man's face. They continued the small talk until it was seven. He stood up and put all the dishes in the sink. "Well I have to go you two. When you arrive with Inoichi I will find you and show you to your classroom." Naruto gave the man a hug and Sachiko waved goodbye. When he left Naruto pulled a Shougi board out of his bag with a smile.

"Want to play a game before Ino-chan's dad gets here?" Sachiko's frown at the mention of Ino was replaced with a smile that made Naruto's heart sink.

"Sure Naruto-kun. Luckily one of the things that the clan would teach me is how to play Shougi." Naruto set the board up and they got started. Seven thirty rolled around and Inoichi knocked on the front door before walking inside. He raised an eyebrow as he saw Naruto face down on the table and Sachiko with a large smile on her face.

"Hey kids." The man said slowly. "Are you ready to get going?" Naruto stood up from the table and put the game away back into his bag.

"I sure am Inoichi-san." He looked around the room confused as Sachiko stood up and grabbed her bag as well. "Where is Ino-chan?" His answer was a blonde blur tackling him and sitting on his chest smiling.

"Here I am Naruto-kun! It was very sweet of you to worry about where I was." Ino said.

"You're always so hyperactive." Sachiko mumbled under her breath.

"Well excuse me for being excited to see my best friend." She replied sticking her tongue out at the girl.

"Ino-chan; can you please get off me now." The boy asked. With a giggle the girl stood up and allowed him to get off the ground. Ino wore a pair of purple shorts and a black shirt with her blonde hair pulled into pig-tails.

"You can continue the conversation as we walk." Inoichi said looking at the clock. "You don't want to be late on your first day of the academy; do you?" The four of them left the apartment and Naruto locked the door. As they walked down the road towards the academy they started talking again. "So are you two as excited to be starting the academy as Ino is?"

"I know I am." Naruto said. "I am looking forward to learning and getting stronger so that I can become the Hokage and the strongest shinobi in the world."

"You have to be better than me." Ino told him. "Good luck with that."

"You both are assuming that you will do better than me." Sachiko chimed in. Inoichi smiled at the interaction between the three.

"I accept your challenges!" Naruto shouted throwing a fist in the air.

"What are you talking about?" Sachiko asked.

"I accept the challenge of who is going to be the strongest. Just you wait; you will be in awe at my awesomeness." He said with a smile.

"We will see about that Naruto-kun." Ino told him smiling also. They arrived at the new academy and the children looked in awe at the large four story building. Outside the front doors there was a podium set up with a chair to each side. Behind the podium the Hokage was talking to two people Naruto had never seen before. One was a dark skinned woman with white hair wearing what resembled a grey business suit. The other was a man with brown hair combed to the side wearing a tan suit similar to the woman's. The most noticeable thing about him was his red lensed glasses.

Walking through the crowd of people Kuzuri made his way to the four and ruffled Naruto's hair when he arrived. "Hopefully they weren't too much trouble for you Inoichi." The blonde man waved it off.

"They were fine. I'm more concerned with how you will handle Ino in the mornings for the year." The three children adopted confused looks on their faces.

"What does he mean dad?"

"Well I had to make a deal with Inoichi here to convince him to pick you two up today. For the rest of the year he will drop Ino off at the apartment and we will be walking her to the Academy." Kuzuri told them. The two blondes smiled while Sachiko frowned.

"That's great isn't it Naruto-kun?" Ino asked.

"Fantastic." Sachiko mumbled. Ino smiled and stuck a tongue out at Sachiko again.

"Looks like the Hokage is ready to get the show on the road." Kuzuri said. Indeed the Hokage had stepped up to the podium and the two people were in the seats.

"Welcome everyone to the grand opening of Konoha's Academy of the Shinobi Arts." The adults in the crowd started clapping their hands. Waiting for them to finish the Hokage continued. "Here your child will be instructed in the proper way to conduct themselves as a shinobi of the great village of Konoha in addition to everyday education. As you all know this is going to be an eight year program. At any time you may withdraw your child from the program within the first four years. After that point they will be required to finish the program in its entirety. Should they be deemed incapable of becoming shinobi they will be removed from the program at the principal and vice-principals discretion. If they are dismissed from the program they are free to enter the Konoha Police Force, the Konoha Samurai Corps, or pursue a regular civilian lifestyle." A man in the crowd raised his hand. "What is your question?"

"What will happen to the old academy and the students currently enrolled?" He asked.

"Good question. The current classes will graduate according to plan. Last year's first year class schedule will be changed to an eight year program as well. When the class from two years ago graduates, last year's class will be transferred to this academy for the remainder of their enrollment. After they are transferred here the old building will be used by active shinobi. I will now turn this over to the Principal, Sutomu." He stepped to the side as the dark skinned woman stood up and took the podium.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." She then turned to address the crowd. "Good morning everyone; as Principal of this prestigious academy I will watch over and ensure your children receive the guidance necessary to their development as a shinobi. In addition to this; I also will be in charge of any disciplinary action that needs to be taken should your child need to be."

"Miss Sutomu, how will we know our child is being properly trained?" A woman asked.

"Me and my associate, Kenmijinko, have made sure to hire only those we decided would be best as teachers. We have also ensured that our training facilities here are the best we have to currently offer. My associate can better inform you of these details." Taking a seat she was replaced by the man.

"We have made sure to hire only those who have an experience shinobi career. Those we have hired consist of active Chuunin with at least four years' experience, active Jounin with at least ten years' experience, and retired Jounin with over fifteen years' experience. Each instructor hired will be in charge of one specific area in your child's education. We feel that given their many years' of experience combined; that your children will receive the best education we can offer." The man said to the crowd. "As for our training facilities; your child will spend a majority of their days in the same classroom. Twice a day their training will remove them from the classroom though. We have an outside training course for target practice and survival exercises. In addition to this we have a large gymnasium that is more than fully equipped for all of your child's physical training. Any further questions?" No one raised their hands. "Alright; now due to the number of students who have been enrolled they have been separated into two separate classes. Class A will be located on the first floor in Classroom 3 while Class B will be located on the first floor in Classroom 2." He pointed to a large bulletin board behind him with papers on it. "On this board behind me are two lists. You will find your child on one of the lists to see what class your child is in. Once you have found your child on the list we ask that you escort them to their classroom." He stepped to the side and the Hokage stood behind the podium again.

"You three are in Class B. Come on I'll show you where it's at." Kuzuri said.

"I have to go Ino." Inoichi told her. "Have fun today." Ino gave the man a hug goodbye. Kuzuri and the children walked through the crowd of people and into the building. They arrived at classroom 2 and Kuzuri opened the door for them to go in. "Alright here you guys go. Have fun and I'll be seeing you all later."

"Bye dad." Naruto said as Sachiko and Ino walked into the classroom.

"Now Naruto; you remember that you won't be receiving special treatment right?" The boy nodded his head. "In fact I'm going to be harder on you than the rest of the class." The boys' eyes widened at that. Kuzuri pushed the boy into the room. "No worrying yet; have fun with your friends." Naruto looked around the room he entered. He saw Ino and Sachiko sitting in a row of desks with Hinata on the right side of the room next to the windows, and in the row behind them sat Kiba and Shino. Behind them sat a sleeping boy with pineapple shaped hair, a larger boy eating potato chips, and a very pale boy with black hair and black eyes writing on a scroll. Naruto walked over to his friends and sat down in between Kiba and Shino.

"So what do you think this is going to be like?" Kiba asked.

"I think it will be fun. I mean we get to learn how to be shinobi after all." Naruto responded. "I'm just wondering what we are going to be learning and who the teachers will be." The six friends continued to talk as the room eventually filled up. A minute or two after it filled up a red headed woman walked into the loud class. They became silent as she started walking down the aisle handing papers to the children.

"Hello everyone; welcome to year one of your studies. My name is Jingure and I am the headmaster of Class B." She finished passing the papers out and took her spot at the front of the classroom. "For the next eight years I will be keeping a close eye on you all to make sure you understand what is being taught. The piece of paper that I gave you outlines everything you will be learning this year and who the instructors will be. Please take this time to read it through as I get everything prepared for our session." Jingure turned around and put a bag on her desk.

"So it looks like Jingure-sensei will be covering our basic education." Hinata said reading the paper. Naruto groaned out loud. "What's wrong Naruto-kun?" The other two girls glared at the girl for the suffix.

"Look who is in charge of our physical training." They all looked at the paper and Sachiko's head hit the desk. The paper said this: Basic Education such as math, grammar, and Konoha History; Jingure. History of other countries; Shadoukyatto. Basics of being a Shinobi; Umino Iruka. Physical Education; Kuzuri.

"What's so bad about your dad teaching it?" Kiba asked.

"You will see when it becomes that time." Sachiko said. The day passed quickly and Iruka stood in front of the class with a man who had silver hair.

"Hello class; my name is Umino Iruka and this is my assistant Mizuki. We will be helping you learn what it means to be a shinobi. Today we will start with a basic necessity all shinobi will need to learn, kunai and shuriken throwing. We will be going outside for this portion of your training; follow us please." Iruka and Mizuki walked outside followed by the children. Iruka walked to a large cabinet and with a pulse of chakra opened it up. He handed Mizuki a large box and he grabbed a box of his own setting them on separate tables. "We will be separating you into two groups. One group will work on kunai with me, the other will work on shuriken with Mizuki. When we reach the half-way point the groups will switch. We will walk you through the basic motions of throwing the weapons." They took a couple minutes to separate the children into groups. Naruto was with Iruka first with Kiba, Hinata, and a handful of other children. "First I will show you how to throw them; then I will walk you through how to throw them; then I will have you step up in groups of three to practice. Each person will throw kunai for five minutes." Naruto waited until it was his turn. Naruto threw the first missing the target completely.

"Iruka-sensei; what did I do wrong?" Naruto asked the man.

"Throw another kunai so I can watch." Naruto did as told and missed just as bad. "You are overextending your throwing motion. Try shortening it and throwing the kunai sooner." Naruto took it to mind and took his time. Throwing it again he hit the edge of the target. "Good job Naruto; keep throwing like that for the duration of your turn." Over the next three minutes Naruto threw ten kunai. Five of them were in various spots on the right side of the target while the other five were on the ground by said target. "Good job Naruto. Okay next group up." The time passes and they switched groups.

"Alright class. I will do as Iruka did. I will show you the proper way to throw a shuriken; then I will instruct you how; than groups of three will go through the exercise." Naruto's time came soon enough. He threw his first shuriken in the same motion he was throwing his kunai. It clipped the left edge of the target before bouncing off.

"Mizuki-sensei; could you help me please?" He asked. The silver-haired man ignored Naruto instead praising the other twos throwing technique. Frowning Naruto kept trying to work on his technique. When his time was up he didn't get one stuck in the target at all. Iruka watched from his side frowning. Naruto sat on the ground as the rest of the class finished.

"Alright class good-job today. The instructor for your next class will come pick you up from here. So do what you want until then, but don't leave the area." The kids got together with their friends and Iruka walked up to Naruto. He sat down next to the boy. "So I see you didn't do to hot with the shuriken throwing."

"Well; I tried doing the same thing with them as when I threw the kunai. Obviously that didn't work. When I asked Mizuki-sensei to help he just ignored me." The boy mumbled.

"Don't take it personal Naruto. He is new to this teaching thing. I'm sure he is trying his best. How about after lessons are over you meet me here and I'll help you out." With a smile the boy nodded. "And don't worry about Mizuki; I'll talk to him okay?"

"Thanks Iruka-sensei." Their conversation ended when Kuzuri showed up. All the children's hearts dropped at his smile.

"I have a very unfortunate feeling about this." Shino said to Kiba who only nodded his head in agreement.

The first year passed quickly in Naruto's mind. He didn't learn much about Konoha's history as he already knew a lot. He made sure to pay attention in Shadou's class so he could learn a lot about other villages. His favorite topic was learning about Kirigakure and the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu. He found their abilities with a sword exciting. In addition he also loved when their studies were based on the various Kages throughout history.

Learning from Iruka and Mizuki was a good experience. True to his word Iruka talked to Mizuki and the man was a good teacher. At the end of every day Naruto would stay behind and go over the throwing exercises with Iruka. What they learned in addition to those exercises were how to act as a shinobi.

Kuzuri's class was the toughest of them all. Each day the man drove the children into the ground. On Friday's he would have them participate in a team sports. Naruto enjoyed playing capture the flag the most. Unfortunately every time they did workouts Kuzuri made him use his weights. After moving to their new residence Naruto's weights were raised to one pound each and Sachiko was given half-pound weights. At the start of the second year Naruto was up to two pounds each with Sachiko at one pound. Naruto added to his group of friends with Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji, both heirs of their respective clans.

(Year Two)

Naruto stood next to his friends and the rest of the class at the training field with Iruka and Mizuki in front of them. "Okay class; today we are going to be working on tree walking again." They all groaned at this. "I know you don't think that it's fun or anything, but it is something you need to learn. We will separate you all again and one group will go with Mizuki; the other with myself." Naruto ended up in the group with Mizuki and none of his friends were with him. He looked to the boy on his left and noticed it was the boy with dark hair and pale skin.

"Hey there my name is Naruto what's yours?" He asked as they walked towards some trees.

"My name is Sai." Was the boy's response. Naruto looked at his tree and started channeling chakra. He placed a foot on it only to get pushed off hard. He looked at Sai and saw him slowly walking up the tree. He made it five feet before he started slipping. He fell on the ground but stood up and brushed himself off.

"Hey Sai you're pretty good at that."

"My care-taker helps me in the arts of the shinobi. He has me working on the tree walking exercise outside of the academy."

"Could you please help me figure it out?" Naruto asked. The boy blankly looked at him for a second.

"Sure. What do you feel when you channel your chakra for the exercise?"

"Well it feels like my chakra is going to burst out of me."

"Why don't you try this. Channel your chakra and slowly lower the amount you are channeling until the bursting sensation leaves. Than try walking up the tree again." Naruto nodded his head and tried it. A couple minutes after he was channeling he took a step onto the tree. He made it three steps before slipping off. "How did that time feel?"

"It felt good. I got excited and lost concentration that's why I slipped."

"I would recommend that you focus right now on finding the proper level of chakra as fast as possible than going up the tree." For the rest of the time Naruto did the exercise with Sai giving him pointers.

"Thanks a lot Sai. You really helped me." Naruto said as their group started walking towards the other. "Hey; my dad is having a barbeque tomorrow and he let me invite my friends. Would you like to go?" The boy looked to be in thought.

"That seems like a good idea. I would require your address though." Naruto gave it to him and the boy nodded slightly in approval. "What time would be acceptable?"

"My dad is going to start cooking at 2, but you can come by whenever before."

"I shall see you tomorrow Naruto-san." Kuzuri picked up the class and they arrived at the gymnasium. Changing into their training clothes they stood in a line across from the man.

"Normally today would be a sport day, but for some reason this week you all have been slacking a little in your workouts. So it will be another workout session today." Again the class groaned. "I don't care how much you complain. You all know the circuit; get to running." With that being said the group started running. He had them run for ten minutes. After that he had them do pushups for five, sit-ups for another five, and finally he had them squat for five minutes as well. "You have a two minute break than you do it again."

"So that Sai kid is coming to the barbeque tomorrow also." Naruto wheezed out to his friends.

"Isn't he kind of, I don't know, weird though?" Ino barely got out.

"We have a friend who smells and acts like a dog and another who has a hive of bugs living in his body; I think that compared to them Sai is pretty normal." Sachiko said.

"Breaks over; get to work." Kuzuri shouted to the group. Slowly the entire class started moving again. After class Naruto, Sachiko, and Kuzuri were walking back to their residence. They arrived at the apartment complex and walked past it. There was a large area surrounded on four sides by tall walls and walked through the gate which was guarded by twin males. They arrived at a point in the road with three different ways to go; left, right, or straight. To the left were a number of single story houses; to the right a smaller number of two story houses; and straight were three very large buildings. They went down the right path and to a brown house with a black roof.

-The Next Day-

Sai walked down a road with an older male by his side with grey hair and black eyes. "So who is this Naruto?" The man asked.

"He is just a classmate who invited me to a friendly gathering Shin." Sai said. Shin put an arm around the boys shoulder.

"Is he a friend of yours?"

"Not at this moment."

"Would you like to be friends with him?" Sai was silent at Shin's question. Shin put his arms behind his head. "I think that you should try to make friends with him."

"Why is that? I have plenty of friends." Sai said.

"Your interaction with the others in R.O.O.T. doesn't make them your friends." Shin told him. "Besides me; none of them treat you like a friend. You need to have a friend your age. And from what you told me and Danzou-sama about Naruto; is that he has a good number of friends."

"I have no need for more friends though."

"Then why did you accept the boy's invitation to join them in their festivities?" Sai didn't answer them as they arrived at the compound. The two twins were still standing guard at the gate.

"Can we help you?" The one of the left said.

"Yeah, my little brother here was invited by Naruto to his family's residence." Pulling a clipboard off of the wall the man looked at it and nodded.

"You must be Sai. Very well; go down this road and turn right once you reach the crossing paths; their house is the brown one with the black roof. If you would like my brother here can escort you."

"Sure, it would be better to not get lost. What's your name?" Shin asked as he followed the other man down the road.

"The name is Jeimi. Your brother will have fun if I know Naruto." He said. A couple minutes later they arrived at the house. "Well here we are. If you are going to be leaving please just use the front gate and also inform us if you are planning on returning."

"Thank you Jeimi-san." Shin said bowing slightly. With a bow in return Jeimi left the two there. Shin walked up to the door and knocked on it. A minute later Ema opened the door.

"Hello, how may I help you?" She asked.

"My little brother was invited by Naruto to join in your families fun." Shin told her. Ema smiled at the two.

"Please come on inside. Everyone is in the backyard."

"I'm sorry, but I am unable to stay, Duty calls after all." Shin said. "I just had to make sure Sai got here safely."

"Well, my son's friends are going to be staying the night. Will Sai be joining in that as well?" Said looked like he was going to say something but Shin beat him to it.

"Of course he will be. Do make sure that Naruto shows him how to have fun." Shin turned and walked away from the house. "I shall pick him up tomorrow at nine."

"See you then." Ema and Sai walked through the house and out the back door. Kuzuri stood at a large barbeque drinking a beer with a large man and the Hokage as they cooked the food. Jingure, Shadou and a couple of other woman sat at a table gossiping. Naruto and all his friends were playing a game of tag. The children that were there were Sachiko, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. Chouji, Shikamaru, and Shino were not playing with them. "Naruto, your final guest is here." The boy looked over and smiled as he saw Sai. He ran over and slapped the boy on the arm.

"You're it!" He shouted as he ran off. Sai looked confused at the gesture.

"Have you ever played tag before?" Ema asked him. Sai shook his head no. "Okay, well when you get tagged you are it. And when you are it; you have to go tag someone else. Once you tag someone you have to run and avoid from becoming it again. You have to make sure you tell them that they are it though when you take them." Sai hesitantly walked towards the kids that were waiting for Sai to move. When he got close they all ran away from him. Frowning he moved a little faster towards them only for them to run off again. Getting irritated Sai ran and ended up pushing Kiba causing the boy to roll on the ground. Everyone looked at the boy.

"Ummm, your it?" Sai said. Naruto smiled at Sai.

"Don't let him get you." Naruto told Sai grabbing him by the sleeve and running. A smile slowly crept its way onto Sai's face as they ran and the rest of the children laughed at their game. Ema watched proudly as her son built another friendship.

The second year passed and the class learned a lot. In Jingure's class they kept going over the basic education everyone receives. Shadou taught them more than just the history of other villages. She taught them about the different customs and political aspects of each village. She taught how to act as a civilian of each village and what they would wear as well. In Iruka's class they worked on accuracy with the two thrown weapons in addition to completing the tree-climbing exercise and starting the water-walking. Kuzuri worked them into the ground once again and in the last half of the year put them all on weights and increased Naruto's and Sachiko's. Naruto was now at four pounds at the start of the third year and Sachiko was at two pounds while the rest of the class was at one pound.

(Year Three)

A eleven year old Naruto sat in Iruka's class with his friends. His blonde hair was longer and he changed his outfit. He now wore a pair of loose black pants and a dark grey t-shirt with an orange spiral on the back, and on his feet he wore a pair of black shoes. "Okay class; today we are going to do a review of the three jutsu you have learned this year. We will call you into the room behind us and ask you to perform the jutsus." One by one Naruto saw his friends go and come back out as he waited his turn.

"Go us for having the last names that start with a 'U' and a 'Y' huh Naruto-kun?" Ino asked from beside him.

"Yeah; I hope that I can get the Bunshin right this time. I always have a problem with it."

"Why don't you ask Iruka-sensei to help you out?" Kiba asked as he sat down behind him.

"I always ask him for help; he has to be getting tired of me by now."

"Naruto-san; your determination to get better though is what has placed you in the top five of the class." Shino said from the table behind them.

"You shouldn't worry so much Naruto-kun." Hinata told him. "I know that you will do great. Even if you aren't great at the Bunshin; no one has a better Henge or can Kawarimi better than you."

"Yeah I guess you guys are right." He said. Sachiko came out of the room and sat down in the open seat next to him. "How did it go Sachiko-chan?"

"It was good. I got the Bunshin and Kawarimi, but the Henge took me a couple tries to get it right." She replied.

"Come on Naruto; it's your turn." Mizuki told him from the front of the class. He walked down the steps and into the room where Iruka was sitting behind a table with a clipboard. Mizuki walked around him and sat down next to Iruka. The room had a couple chairs and other desks in it with some other miscellaneous objects.

"Alright Naruto; this one is pointless, but go ahead and do the Henge." Iruka told him. Naruto made a seal and a small pulse of chakra and smoke later a perfect replica of Iruka stood in front of them. Iruka stood up and walked around the boy studying him for a couple minutes. "Perfect as usual. Now; please do a Kawarimi." Naruto dropped the Henge and pulsed chakra again replacing himself with Mizuki. "Impressive; switching places with another person at your age. Another perfect jutsu. Now please take your place again and do the Bunshin." With a grimace Naruto did as told. He concentrated chakra and the clone that appeared looked dead on the ground. "As usual the Bunshin is your hardest technique."

"What am I doing wrong Iruka-sensei?" He asked.

"From what I can tell; you are trying to use as much chakra as you do with the Kawarimi. Try using the same amount of chakra as with your Henge." Mizuki told him.

"But when I do the Henge I use just as much as the Kawarimi." Naruto said.

"Try cutting your chakra output in half. You have the Tree-walking mastered and you are very adept at the water-walking so you should be able to do this." Iruka said. Naruto nodded and made the seal as well as concentrating. He attempted the jutsu and a clone appeared next to him. It was standing up right and looked acceptable minus the fact that it had no color to it. "There you go Naruto. Now you just have to tweak the chakra output to add color and a few other details. Now put the amount of chakra you do with the Henge and Kawarimi, and focus on making two clones." With a nod Naruto did as told and two clones appeared next to him. One had no color and the other had very dull colors, but they didn't look dead. "There you go Naruto; just keep working on it in your spare time and you will eventually get it."

"Congratulations Naruto." Mizuki said with a smile.

"Thanks sensei's." Mizuki stood up and walked Naruto to the door. Walking out and sitting down he smiled at his friends. "Well; I think I am going to be able to get the Bunshin down."

"Good job Naruto-san." Sai said as Ino stood up and went into the room with Mizuki.

"So what do you think Bishoppu-sensei has planned for today?" Sachiko asked.

"Probably more training in the academy taijutsu. He did say that is what we would be doing the whole year after all." Kiba responded.

"Between him and my dad; physical education is brutal." Naruto said putting his head on the table. At the beginning of the year a new teacher was introduced for the physical portion. One week Kuzuri would do the workouts Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; than Bishoppu would instruct taijutsu on Tuesday and Thursday, The following week they would rotate the days. No matter who was teaching they would work the class into the ground. The end of the day came around and Jingure arrived at the end of Bishoppu's class. She walked in to see the children sparring with eachother in the academy style taijutsu. She walked up to Bishoppu and talked to the man. He told her some things and Jingure wrote them down on a clipboard. Nodding at the man he turned and addressed the class.

"Okay that's enough for the day. The headmaster has something to say to us." Everyone stopped what they were doing and lined up.

"Hello everyone; as you know this is the half-way point through the year. And with that we now have the class rankings up until now. They will be posted on the bulletin board outside for everyone to see, have a good rest of the day." She left and the kids all looked at Bishoppu.

"Alright you're all dismissed." He told them. They all hurried and changed rushing to see their rankings.

"Of course you guys are in the top five again." Kiba said looking at the list. Sachiko was rated first overall with Naruto, Shino, Hinata, and Sai coming in second through fifth. Kiba sat at number seven and Ino was number eight; this was the ranking out of twenty four students. Sachiko was first in Ninjutsu with Sai in second, Ino in third, Shino in fourth, and Shikamaru in fifth. Hinata sat in seventh and Naruto was all the way at tenth. Naruto was ranked first in taijutsu, Sachiko in second, Kiba in third, Chouji in fourth, and Hinata in fifth. Ino was at seventh, Shino was at ninth, and Sai was at sixth. In the intelligence category Shikamaru was first, Sakura was second, Ino was third, Shino was fourth, and Sachiko was fifth. Naruto sat at seventh, Sai at eighth, and Kiba at ninth.

"Man; I'm only so low on the Ninjutsu because I could never get the Bunshin right." Naruto groaned out as him and his friends walked away from the academy.

"Luckily you are so good at the other two that it kept you right up there though. If it weren't for that you would be ranked so much lower Naruto-san." Sai said.

"How many times have I told you to just call me Naruto? I hate formalities." The boy told him.

"Many times Naruto-san." Naruto palmed his face and the rest of the friends all laughed.

The year continued for the students at Konoha's academy with Naruto slowly clawing his way up in the class ranks. By the end of the year Naruto had clawed his way up into fifth place in the Ninjutsu category and one spot in the intelligence. Unfortunately in the taijutsu category he dropped to third with Hinata in first, Chouji in second, Sachiko in fifth, and Kiba in fourth.

In Shadou's class they learned techniques specific to infiltration and worked on integrating the Henge. Iruka's class continued with chakra control exercises and making sure everyone had the three jutsu mastered. The same concept happened in the physical education class. Kuzuri had Naruto up to six pounds, Sachiko at three and a half, and the rest of the class at two pounds; while Bishoppu continued to teach them the Taijutsu forms, he also taught them how to integrate the jutsu they learned into combat.

(Year Four)

"Welcome to the beginning of year four with Mizuki and myself." Iruka addressed the now twelve year olds. "This year we have a lot of fun stuff picked out for your all. We will be learning two new jutsu; the Shunshin no Jutsu and the Kanashibari no Jutsu. You will learn one at a time. Before you learn one though you must pass a chakra control exercise we have for you. So now we will get started on the first one. We will be doing the tree-walking exercise, but there will be a difference. This time you will be sticking leaves to your body with chakra as you go. Think of it as a combination between the leaf balancing and the tree walking exercise." The students followed Iruka and Mizuki to the training area Naruto was bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Geeze, calm down Naruto." Kiba told him.

"You know I can't do that. I love the prospect of learning a new jutsu." He replied.

"You act like it's going to be something really cool." Ino said.

"You don't know that it's not going to be." Was all Naruto said as they arrived at the area. For the rest of the day they continued working on it with Naruto making minimal progress. "Man; these techniques must be tough if this is the exercise."

"Not really tough Naruto." Iruka responded. "They just require better chakra control than the other techniques you have learned. You could do the jutsu right now, but if you have better control it will make learning techniques at a later time easier." Iruka smiled at the boy. "Tomorrow I'll give you some pointers when we start working on it. Better hurry and get to your next class. You know how Bishoppu gets." Naruto's face fell and he hurriedly went to the gymnasium. The class and himself lined up in front of the man.

"Alright brats; I am impressed with how you ended last year in regards to learning the academy taijutsu. In regards to the academy taijutsu; Naruto was the most improved. All the clan heirs; you have grasped your respective styles very well." He told them. "Now, this year you will all be going deeper into your respective styles. I want all clan heirs to request from their tutors the next level of training and all those learning the advanced forms of the academy taijutsu. This will all get started tomorrow."

"What are we going to learn today?" A pink haired girl asked.

"Today we will be learning how to integrate one of my favorite techniques into your taijutsu styles. Before we start learning the technique though, I need to teach you the history behind it. You all know how to cancel a Genjutsu correct?" The class said yes. "Okay, it is basically a powered version of that, but instead of creating the pulse in your body; you expel it out of your body. Chouji come here." The large boy walked forward. "I will now demonstrate the technique. I won't actually hit you Chouji." Bishoppu swung his first forward and barely missed Chouji's head. The boy stumbled away from the man's fist. "What did you feel Chouji?"

"It felt like a force pushed me back." Bishoppu nodded his head.

"Good, now hold your arms in front of you like you are blocking an attack." Chouji crossed his arms in front of his face and squatted down. "I will now lightly punch your arms." Bishoppu tapped Chouji's arm and the boy's left knee buckled and he was sent rolling away. "That is the technique. I created it myself and I call it the Chudan-ha."

"How does it work?" The girl asked again.

"Good question Sakura. When you land an attack you send a blast of chakra into your opponent's body. It's not capable of bodily harm unless you force an extreme amount of chakra into your opponent. The chakra expelling from the point of attack adds extra force into the blow by just pushing them further. This is somewhat similar to the Hyuuga's Juken attacks. The difference is that their attacks are precise and dangerous; my attack sends the chakra out in the form of a wave into the body and is used just to disrupt your opponent in battle by affecting their moves. You will be required to get this move down by the end of the year or you will fail this part of the class."

"Great; no pressure or anything." Naruto said. He walked over to stand next to Hinata. "Hey Hinata-chan, since this is kind of like your clan's moves; can you help me with this?" He asked.

"Sure Naruto-kun. Try focusing the chakra into your hands and picture sending it out in a wave." The boy nodded. He concentrated for a minute or so and his hands started glowing bright blue. It moved forward an inch only to fall to the ground. "That's good for your first time. Keep trying to send it our farther, and once you get it sent out far away try to make it so that your hands won't be glowing blue." The blonde haired boy smiled at the girl.

"Thanks Hinata-chan." He beamed to her. The girl blushed slightly. He did the technique again noticing that Hinata was getting it down quickly. "Say Hinata-chan…"

"Yes Naruto-kun?"

"After class; do you want to go get some food over at Ichiraku's?" The girl blushed deeply at this.

"Just you and me? Or everyone else to?" She asked.

"Just us two." He told her. "I think it would be fun."

"Sure; I would love to." A large smile came to the boy's face.

"That's great!" He said out loud. "If we get separated once class gets out I will meet you at the front gate."

"Okay Naruto-kun." She replied with a smile and a blush. Naruto went over next to Kiba who was scowling.

"What's wrong Fido?" Naruto asked.

"Hardy har har." Kiba told him. "I am having no luck with this technique." Naruto gave himthe pointer that Hinata gave him and he was surprised to see it work. "Thanks for the tip; how did you figure that out?"

"Hinata-chan told me when I asked her about it."

"Oh really now?" The boy said with a smirk. "You two have been getting aweful close the past year or so. What's going on there?" It was Naruto's turn to blush.

"Nothing, we are just friends." He replied.

"Sure you are." Kiba laughed at the boy. "So what's goin on after class today? Want to head over to the obstacle course and practice?"

"I can't, I got stuff to do."

"Like what?" He asked.

"Well Hinata-chan and I are going to Ichiraku's."

"And you say you two are just friends."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sounds like you two are going on a hot date." Naruto blushed at this.

"Shut up dog breath." Naruto said. "You don't know what you're talking about. It's just lunch."

"Whatever you say Naruto." Kiba told him as they started to leave class. "Just don't let Sachiko or Ino find out about this."

"Why not?" Naruto asked. Kiba was about to answer, but he was interrupted.

"Don't let us find out about what?" A voice asked from behind them. They turned around and saw the two girls being talked about. Naruto looked at Kiba who had a nervous look on his face. "Well? If you are going to talk about us at least let us know what it's about." Ino said.

"Yeah; what's going on Naruto-kun?" Sachiko asked.

"Well Hinata and myself are going to Ichiraku's today." Naruto said. The girls looked at the two quietly.

"Is that all? I don't know why you thought that would be a big deal Kiba." Sachiko said. Kiba looked at the two girls who stood there calmly.

"Naruto-kun over here." Hinata shouted from the academy entrance.

"Well; I will see you guys tomorrow, and I'll see you at home Sachiko." Naruto said as he jogged over to Hinata. As the two left Ino and Sachiko walked up to either side of Kiba. The boy felt a chill go down his spine.

"You were plotting to keep secrets from us Kiba-san?" Ino said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No; I would never do something like that."

"Come Kiba, we have much to discuss." Sachiko said as she pulled on his arm.

"Forget this." The boy shouted as he ran away from the girls. The two giggled as Kiba disappeared. Looking at eachother again they frowned.

"What does Hinata have that we don't?" Ino asked. The two girls left the academy grounds and started walking in the direction of Ino's house.

"Who knows; he has known all of us for so long that he does have his choice of who to date." Sachiko responded.

"Oh so you are interested in Naruto-kun after all?" Sachiko's face fell with a large blush on her cheeks.

"You have no idea what you're talking about Ino." She told the blonde. "I just don't want him to get hurt is all."

"Sure you don't." Ino said. "I like Hinata in all, she is a great girl, but I hope that they don't last so that I get a chance with him." Sachiko slapped Ino on the arm.

"That's a horrible thing to hope for someone. I'm no happier about it than you are, but I don't even wish that."

"Don't you though Sachiko? You would like a chance with Naruto too; I know you would no matter how badly you deny it."

"Enough about this topic." Sachiko said rubbing her temples. "So what are we going to do at your house? I'm looking forward to getting away from Kuzuri's training for once. He doesn't let it happen very often." Ino smirked and shook her head at the girls denial of her feelings.

"Well I figure that maybe we could go to see that new samurai movie, Chimamire no Horo-sha and then just have you stay the night. We could see if Hinata is up for a little girls night slumber party and find out all the details about their little date." Sachiko scowled at the last suggestion.

"I would rather not. The movie sounds good though."

(With Naruto)

"Hey old man I'll take two miso ramen and a pork ramen. Also with whatever Hinata-chan would like." Naruto said as they sat down at the counter.

"I would like a seafood special please." Hinata told the man.

"Alright; ramen coming right up for the love birds." Teuchi stated as he walked into the back. The two of them blushed as Ayame observed the two.

"So; when did you two get together?" She asked.

"We aren't Ayame-nee-chan." Naruto whined. "We just decided to get some food after class got out today." Ayame winked at the two as she walked away.

"Whatever you say Naruto-kun. Have fun you two." She arrived at another customer and took their order.

"So Hinata; what is it like being a part of the Hyuuga clan? You never really talk about it." Naruto asked.

"Well, it is very strict and the training is rigorous." She replied.

"No not like that Hinata-chan. I want to know what you really think about it." Hinata looked down and poked her fingers together.

"There are days where I love it and days where I hate it. I dislike people treating me different just because I am heir to the most prestigious clan in the village. That is a reason I like spending time with you and the rest of our friends. You all treat me like a normal person."

"How does your family treat you?"

"They treat me like everyone else. The only people that treat me normal are my dad and sister. Unfortunately due to the clan elders they must keep face in front of them; so he must treat me coldly and indifferently when they are around, which is unfortunately a lot of the time. Some of the Branch family sincerely likes me, but there are those who also resent me because of my position in the family."

"I think all people should be treated the same no matter what their status is." Naruto responded.

"Unfortunately not everyone sees things from your perspective." Hinata said sighing. Their food arrived and they started eating. "So tell me what it's like with your family. And you didn't let me get away with the basic answer, so you won't get away with it either." Hinata asked with a smile.

"If I were to sum it all up into a couple words; I love it." Naruto told her smiling. "Looking at my dad; I'm not that dumb to realize that with his personality he was forced into the position of adopting me. I just so desperately wanted to have a family that I never questioned it. Living in a village of ninjas you would think that someone being forced to adopt wouldn't completely love the child. Looking at it from day one though; my dad and the rest of my adoptive family has treated me the same ever since. Maybe I am still desperate for a family and naïve about the situation, but it's how I would like to live my life." He smiled at the girl as he finished his ramen. "I have the best friends a person could ask for and definitely the best family I could have ever asked for."

"Do you ever wonder about who your real parents are?" Hinata asked.

"I know who my real parents are, Kuzuri and Ema. They are the only two who have ever raised me as a son. It takes a lot more than blood to make a parent. But I do wonder every day who my genes come from. I asked mom and dad one time if they knew who and they told me yes. But they also said they couldn't tell me until I was old enough. When I complained my dad sat me down. He looked me square in the eyes and told me that there would come a time when he would tell me. He promised me; and my dad has never broken a promise." Naruto replied. "I once wondered what my life would be like if they were still here and they were the ones to raise me. I stopped because if they had I wouldn't be the Naruto that I am today."

"This is true; and I happen to like the Naruto that you are very much." Hinata said. Naruto paid the bill and the two left the stand and walked to the Hyuuga compound. "Well Naruto-kun thank you for the fun afternoon."

"No problem Hinata-chan. We should do this again sometime." He told her.

"I would love to." She said. "I will see you tomorrow." She kissed him on the cheek and walked through the gate into the compound. Naruto walked back home with a smile on his face and a hand on his cheek.

(Six Months Later)

"Where are you taking me Hinata-chan?" A blindfolded Naruto asked. Hinata was leading him by the hand down a path in the park.

"Don't worry about it Naruto-kun; you will see when we get there."

"Fine." The boy whined. The sun warmed his skin as it came through broken branches. A couple minutes later they stopped walking. "Are we there now?"

"Yes we are." The blindfold came off and Naruto observed the area they were in. Hinata had a blanket spread out on the ground with a picnic basket. It sat in the middle of a small clearing that had a pond and was decorated with flowers. "I figured that with your dad giving you a day off of training we could have a nice lunch."

"This is a great spot. You're the best Hinata-chan." Naruto said with a smile. They walked over to the blanket and sat down. Hinata opened the basket and started pulling the food out. She had an assortment of fruit, a couple of sandwiches, rice balls, and two containers of tea. "So what's it like being at the top of the class?" Hinata asked as she took a bite of a sandwich.

"It's nothing to exciting. It's cool because it lets me know that all my hard work is paying off. Sachiko-chan and Shino are right there behind me to though so I can't slack." Naruto told her. "I just can't wait to become a shinobi. Just four more years and then it happens. What do you think that exam at the end of the year is going to be over?"

"It's probably just going to be everything we have learned the past four years. It's probably going to be a mini-gennin exam."

"So if I pass this I will definitely become a Gennin, sweet." Naruto beamed a smile at the girl. A couple minutes later Naruto spoke up again. "You know, I'm really glad that me and you have been a couple the past six months. And I'm glad your dad at least likes me and let me date you." Hinata giggled at the boy.

"You should have seen your face when you asked him to date me. I have never seen you so nervous."

"It's not my fault; your dad may be nice and all that, but he can definitely be scary when he wants to be." Naruto shivered at the memory.

"Yes, he can definitely have a bit of a protective streak." Hinata smiled at Naruto. "I am glad we are together to." She raised her glass. "To many more days or being happy with eachother." Smiling Naruto raised his glass to and they clinked them together. The next day Naruto and Sachiko stood in a training room with Kuzuri watching from the door.

"Okay; today you will be sparring in only taijutsu. No jutsu allowed at all." With a nod the two got into their stances and rushed at eachother.

"So what did you do on your day off?" Naruto asked as he ducked a kick to the head. He spun around trying to strike with an elbow. The girl blocked it with her left hand and punched him in the ribs.

"Well I went and visited the Uchiha children around the complex." Naruto swept Sachiko's legs out from underneath her. She rolled out of the way as he tried to stomp on her stomach. She stood up and took her stance across from the boy. "So how what about you? I didn't see you around here until later in the day."

"Well I went to hang out with Hinata and we went out on a lunch date." Sachiko frowned slightly at the answer.

"That sounds like…fun." She rushed forward and punched the boy in the gut. He gasped for air and moved to punch her back. She ducked his blow and kicked him in the ribs, putting her foot behind his she tripped the boy and spun dropping an elbow on his chest.

"Okay that's enough you two. Now I want you two to work on the jutsu I gave you to learn. Naruto; you should be almost done learning the Fuuton: Hasai-ken and Sachiko should almost have the Katon: Taiga Tsume. Before you go practice though, do either of you know why I am having you learn these two specific jutsu?" Kuzuri asked as the two stood up and separated.

"You are having us learn them so that they can be utilized in close quarters combat. They are only C-rank jutsu, but they are devastating if the users can master them and integrate them into their taijutsu." Naruto replied as he rubbed his ribs.

"Good; now go into your training room Naruto." The boy nodded and walked down a set of spiral stairs in the corner. Sachiko went to follow but Kuzuri stopped her. "Wait for Naruto to get to his room before going to yours. I don't want you attacking him down there." The girl looked down sheepishly. "Now I don't understand a whole lot that goes on in the head of a woman; I have been dating Ema for two years now and I still have no clue, but you can't let the way you feel about Naruto and Hinata dating affect you."

"I know I shouldn't and I don't know why it does." She responded. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah you can. I will come get you both in thirty minutes."

(End of Year)

"Okay class welcome to the end of your fourth year in the academy. Today you all will be undergoing tests in each specific area you have been learning in." Jingure said from the front of the class. "Unfortunately after today though; I will no longer be teaching any of you. I will still be the headmaster of this class, but from this day on you will all be undergoing specialized training." There were a couple Chuunin in the room with papers and they started passing them out. "Now this five page test will go over your entire first four years with me. It will cover history, math, grammar, and shinobi information you learned from Iruka. It is a one hundred question test and you are only allowed to miss twenty-five total for a passing grade. You have an hour to complete it, any questions left unanswered are considered incorrect; cheating will not be allowed." Naruto groaned as he looked at the test.

"This is going to suck." Slowly Naruto started going through the test. Finishing the last page he went back to go over the test. There we a few things from the first two years he didn't remember and a couple math questions. "That's at least a passing grade." He looked at the clock and saw that he had finished with ten minutes to spare.

"Kaito Sutira please come bring me your test." Jingure said from the front of the class. A boy in the back with black hair looked up in shock.

"What did I do?" He asked.

"You were caught cheating on this test. Now come on." The boy walked to the front and handed her his test. "It will be graded, than your final grade will be reduced by fifty percent. You can go sit down now." The final ten minutes passed with no other incidents of cheating. "Alright class, pencils down." Everyone did as told. "You will now go from here to the outdoors training area. Leave your papers exactly where they are. By the end of the day a notice will be put on the bulletin board. The notice will tell you what classroom to report to when the new year starts. At the end of the day you will also be given a form that needs to be filled out and turned in at the administration office by the end of the week. Good luck on the rest of your tests everyone. You are dismissed." With that the excited children left their papers on the table. Jingure sighed as all the children left. "Man grading all those is not going to be fun." She said as her and her Chuunin assistants went around the room picking up the tests. The class arrived at the training field and was greeted by Shadou and a large group of Chuunin assistants.

"Welcome to the second part of your exam. This test will be over infiltration and security tactics. The class will be separated into groups of two. The groups will be blindfolded and let into separate rooms where they will be given the mission of either infiltrating or catching the infiltrators. You will be told when you get there what village and what part of the exam you will be doing. Your performance will be your grade." One by one groups of two were taken away. Naruto ended up getting paired up with Shikamaru. They were led into the academy and taken into a small room with another door.

"You two will be taking part in this exam as the infiltrators. On the opposite side of the room there is a small seal that you have to copy down. The village that you will be infiltrating will be Kirigakure no Sato. You have five minutes to make the necessary preparations. The room is filled with Bunshin to fit in with their villages. They will react to your actions; so if you aren't acting according to what they know it's possible they will give you away. The room will be completely dark when you enter; the lights will turn once everyone is situated. Your five minutes starts now."

"Alright so what's the plan Shikamaru?" Naruto asked.

"Why do I have to come up with the plan?"

"Because I know you are better at strategies than anyone else in our class."

"Troublesome but fine. Your Henge is unmatched and you are pretty good at clones now. We are going to Henge into what we know of the civilians of Kiri and once inside create more clones to integrate. We will have to do the second one when the lights are off or the test clones will know something is off, and we don't want to alert the other test subjects. After the lights come on and we start making our way over to where the seal is we will have two clones act suspicious to try to get the guardians to bite on it. If they do than we have to move quickly; if only one of them does we will have the other clone move towards them and whatever way the person goes the closest person will try to get over to the seal." Shikamaru told the boy. "Got it?"

"Yeah I got it. Sounds like a good plan." Naruto formed a seal and transformed. In his place stood a boy with brown eyes and black hair that fell around his shoulders. He also wore a pair of black pants and a baggy grey shirt; on top of the look he made himself look dirty. He looked at Shikamaru who transformed and nodded in approval. Shikamaru now had spiky black hair and he wore a pair of dark brown shorts and a light blue shirt with tears in it.

"When we get in there we will make two additional clones to look like people from Amegkure in order to try to throw them off." Naruto nodded his head. Neither of them noticed on of the Chuunin's in the room writing something down on a clipboard. "When we get the seal; must we return to the starting origin?" Shikamaru asked the Chuunin by the door they needed to go through.

"Good observation; yes you must. This is about moving in and out quickly and efficiently."

"On our way out do we have to keep our cover?" Naruto asked this time.

"Yes you do. One minute."

"Okay I got it." Shikamaru said. "Whoever gets the seal copied down needs to pulse their chakra. After they do that create a mass amount of clones and cause hysteria in the crowd and we will move quickly back to this room."

"You got it Shikamaru." Naruto replied. The Chuunin opened the door and the boys saw complete darkness. They walked inside and quickly started their plan. They created a large number of Bunshin and had them spread out. Naruto than had a clone look like a person from Amegakure.

"They are using their chakra for something." They heard a feminine voice from across the room say.

"Try to stay quiet." This time it was a boys voice.

"We are going up against Sakura and Sai." Shikamaru whispered to Naruto. "I'm going to separate from you now and we will start making our way across when the lights turn on." No sooner did Shikamaru get away that the lights turned on momentarily blinding the four in the room. When Naruto could see his jaw dropped. They were in a fifty yard long by twenty five wide room that was filled with probably fifty Bunshin milling about like civilians; including his and Shikamaru's own. He also saw Sakura and Sai both positioned on either side of a seal on the opposite wall. He glanced over at his partner who nodded slightly. Naruto adopted a forlorn expression and looked at the ground as he started making his way across the floor.

"They made more clones than were originally here." Sai stated. "Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity." Sakura nodded her head and gazed at the crowd of people. Every time she thought she saw something the crowd would move and she would lose it. She saw something about five feet away from her that caused her to pause.

"Hey Sai; isn't that a Amegakure disguise that keeps glancing over here?" She whispered to the boy. He looked and saw a man who kept taking short looks at the duo. His clothes were dark in color and he wore the typical air filter that all from Ame wore. Sai looked around and saw another one about two feet and to the left of their position.

"Yes it is; and we have another to our left. You go intercept this one and I will go to the other one." The pink haired girl nodded and they separated. Neither of them thought to check the black haired boy who came along the edge of the room. Naruto moved as quickly as he could without drawing suspicion. He saw Sai leave to follow Shikamaru's clone and Sakura walked past him towards his clone. Slightly speeding up his movement he arrived at the seal. He pulled out a piece of paper and quickly copied the seal down. Making sure he did it correctly he turned around and moved away from it. He gazed across the room and caught Shikamaru's eyes. He nodded and pulsed his chakra. Sai and Sakura turned around as a mass amount of clones erupted from two areas in the room. This caused all the clones to panic and run around. Sakura froze up and Sai started to look around panicking. Naruto and Shikamaru quickly moved to the door and went inside. They shut the door and dropped the Henge.

"Congratulations you two; you passed with flying colors." One Chuunin said. "You can go back outside to the training area and wait for Kuzuri to get you for your exam." The two left and arrived back at the training field. Sachiko and a couple of the others were there.

"So how did you two do?" Ino asked.

"We passed thanks to Shikamaru's genius planning." Naruto said.

"Yeah, but Naruto's Henge and Bunshin's helped us pass." He replied. "What did you guys get stuck doing? We were the infiltrators." More students arrived at the field.

"Ino and I were guardians; we caught them right after they got the seal." Sachiko said. Sai showed up to the group.

"Shikamaru; you and Naruto-san were the two we were guarding against weren't you?"

"Sai, I told you to quit calling me Naruto-san; just call me Naruto." The boy groaned out. "But yeah that was us you had to deal with."

"Well we didn't pass, but we got credit for catching some discrepancies." Sai told them. The rest of the class showed up and Shadou addressed them all.

"Congratulations to those who passed. To those that didn't you did well." She said. "I will turn your grades on this drill to Jingure to be added into your overall grades. Now Kuzuri or Bishoppu will be arriving to give you your next test; good luck everyone." With that said she walked off into the building. A couple minutes later Bishoppu arrived.

"Okay brats; Kuzuri said that he can't really give you an exam on his stuff because it's not necessarily test worthy. But I am going to be testing you on your taijutsu. We are going to the gymnasium." They all went to the gym and there was a large number of other people in there. "These are all active Genin right now with a couple Chuunins to help me grade the matches. You will have a taijutsu match with them and your performance will be your grade. Each Chuunin and myself will call one of you up in alphabetical order." The children were called up one by one. Naruto watched Sachiko go to a Chuunin and face her opponent. He was a fifteen year old boy with spiked brown hair and green eyes. He wore a pair of red pants and a white shirt.

"I have to fight a girl. This is pointless; we know I will win." He told the Chuunin.

"Silence Namaikina." The man responded. "You will only use taijutsu and what you have learned in this class. Begin."

"This is going to be too easy." Namaikina told Sachiko. The girl scowled at the boy. He smirked and rushed at the girl. She smirked; his speed was nothing compared to everyone she trained with. She moved to the side and tripped him as he went by. The boy stumbled and slid face first across the ground. "You will regret that." Rushing again he jumped over her foot and planted a knee into her stomach. Grabbing her right arm he rolled over her back and slammed her onto her back. Pulling her arm out he locked it between his legs and extended his body placing her in an arm-bar. "See what I mean. Too easy; submit." Sachiko cringed and thought of a plan. She took her other hand and punched him in the back of his knee and used the Chudan-ha. The force cause the boys knees to buckle and the girl rolled onto her knees. She stood up and lifted the boy up by grabbing the hand he had and pulling on it. She lifted him two feet and dropped him on his back.

The boy let go as his breath was knocked out of him and Sachiko wasted no time in attacking. She kicked him in the ribs causing the boy to roll over. He got up on his hands and knees but was knocked out by an elbow to his temple. The girl caught her breath as the Chuunin checked on the boy. He carried the boy to the side of the gym and set him down. He then pulled out a clipboard and wrote down on it. "Excellent work Sachiko-san." Naruto clapped from his hands and Sachiko looked over. She smiled and looked away with a small blush on her face.

"Praise from Naruto-kun? Look at you go." Ino said from besides her.

"Shut up Ino." Sachiko replied.

"Uzumaki; you're up with me." Bishoppu said. Naruto got up and walked over to the man. A fourteen year old boy with no hair and brown eyes wearing a pair of grey pants and no shirt. He was very muscular for a boy his age. "This is Tsu Tsuyoi; he is the best active Genin when it comes to taijutsu."

"It's an honor to meet you." Naruto said with a bow to the boy.

"Such respect is not often come across." Tsu replied returning a bow. He took his stance and Naruto did as well. "May we have a very good match." Naruto nodded at the boy. He rushed Naruto and feinted with a right hook. Naruto went to block but was rocked as a kick hit him in the ribs. Naruto went rolling and came to a stop on his knees bracing himself with a hand. He looked up and his eyes widened as he threw both hands in front of him blocking a knee that was flying at his face. Dropping onto his back he grabbed Tsu's foot and rolled throwing the boy on the ground. Quickly getting up he spun and dragging his foot kicked the boy in the shoulder.

Tsu rolled and received a knee to his ribs. As he came up he blocked as a kick came racing towards his head. He blocked the kick but was pushed back by a small blast of chakra. As he slid back Naruto pressed forward and cracked the boy across the jaw with a haymaker from the right. Tsu was sent rolling again but managed to recover and block another kick aimed for his ribs. He shot a fist into Naruto's solar plexus than hit the boy with an uppercut. As Naruto was falling Tsu dropped an axe kick on his chest slamming him into the floor. He went to jump on the Naruto, but the blonde lashed out with his legs and planted them in Tsu's stomach sending the boy flying back from the force of the kick and a blast of the Chudan-ha. They both stood up and Tsu smiled. "I have no received such an exciting match before." He said as he wiped a little blood off of his lips. Naruto returned the smile and gingerly touched his chest.

"This is the most fun I have had in a while." He then took his stance as did Tsu. "Now; let's get back to our exam."

"Enough." Bishoppu said stopping the two before they could begin.

"Aw man." Naruto groaned as he stood up. "It was just getting good to."

"This is just a sparring match Naruto. You don't go all out in them." Bishoppu told him. "This is just an exam to test how well you have been grasping the taijutsu. And you far surpassed my expectations." Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"You are just saying that."

"No I am not. Tsu has been an active Genin for the past two years; and like I said, he excels in taijutsu. That in addition to the integration of the Chudan-ha; well you passed the test. You will find out your final grade at the end of the day." Naruto's smile got even bigger.

"Thanks Bishoppu-sensei." Naruto saw Tsu walking away and he ran up to the boy. "Hey Tsu wait real quick." The bald headed boy turned around.

"Yes Naruto-san; how may I help you?"

"Please just call me Naruto." Naruto replied. "I was wondering; I like to train with different people and none of them are as advanced into taijutsu as you, would you like to spar with eachother some time."

"That would be great idea. My team usually doesn't train on Wednesday's; so if you wanted to we could meet and train on Wednesday's at five." Tsu said.

"That works great for me Tsu."

"If a mission requires me to be absent from our training; I will let you know in advance."

"Okay; are you sure that your sensei will let you do additional training?"

"Yeah he encourages us to train outside of our teams. He says it…increases our flames of youth or something like that."

"Flames of youth?"

"Yeah he is rather eccentric."

"So what is it like being on a team?"

"Well luckily my team gets along pretty well. Gai-sensei is a good teacher; he calls me his favorite student because I like to learn about taijutsu. He says I'm the only one who has grasped his style to the level I have."

"So the one you used was your sensei's?"

"No; I used a modified version of the academy style. It wouldn't be fair if I used my style against you in the test."

"I got it. Well maybe I can meet your team sometime."

"You will be in for a shock if you do. I probably won't be on the team anytime soon since we are finally entering the Chuunin Exams this year."

"Well good luck on that. I will see you Wednesday Tsu."

"Good luck with the rest of your exam Naruto-san." Tsu replied. He bowed quickly and left. Naruto returned to his friends.

"Nice show Naruto-kun." Ino said to the boy. "That was a serious taijutsu match."

"You did extremely well for being outmatched Naruto-san." Sai said to the boy.

"Yeah; way to make all of us look bad." Kiba said. His response was getting smacked in the head by Sachiko.

"Shut up Fido." She told him. "Don't be jealous. Just think if you had gotten matched up against that boy."

"Naruto-kun is lucky enough to have a high tolerance to pain and he heals from wounds pretty fast to." Hinata said as she gave the boy a hug.

"Hey Hinata-chan; sorry I didn't get to watch your match." Naruto replied reciprocating the hug.

"It's okay, I enjoyed watching yours." Ino and Sachiko frowned at eachother and turned away from the two.

"Okay maggots; everyone has completed their exams." Bishoppu announced to the group. All the Chuuning here and myself have graded your performances and they will be added into your final grade that will be posted at the end of the day." Iruka walked in followed by Mizuki. "We will now go and leave you all here with these two."

"Thank you Bishoppu-san." Iruka said. Bishoppu and his entourage left the building. "Okay, we will be separating you into two different groups. One will test with Mizuki and the other will test with me." They called out who would be in what groups and they were led to two different doors. Naruto ended up in a group with his friends. "I will call you in one by one to test you over all the jutsu you have learned." Once again Naruto found himself waiting to be called on. He stood between Ino and Sachiko.

"So are you going to be able to get it Naruto-kun?" Sachiko asked.

"Yeah I should be able to. I'm still not perfect with the clone, but I am good enough with the rest. So I should be able to pass."

"You will do great don't worry Naruto-kun." Ino told him.

"Sachiko; you're next." Iruka said.

"You got this Sachiko-chan." Naruto said with a smile. The girl hid her blush and walked into the room. Ten minutes later she walked out with a smile and Naruto walked inside. Iruka stood across from the boy with a smile.

"Well Naruto; I have no doubt that you will pass this test. But you still have to do this. So let's start with the ones you know best. Go ahead and Henge into myself." With a pulse of chakra and a cloud of smoke a perfect replica of Iruka stood in front of the man. "Good job; now Kawarimi with something." Another pulse of chakra and Naruto switched with a rock in the corner. "Good job again. Now we are going to go with the Kanashibari no Jutsu." Naruto concentrated and made the necessary hand seals. Shooting the technique Iruka froze up and his eyes widened in fear. He saw the Kyuubi razing the village again and watched as it turned on him. Naruto canceled the technique and Iruka breathed a sigh of relief. "Perfect. Go with the Shunshin now." Naruto did the necessary preparations and with a pulse of chakra he disappeared and reappeared in the corner of the room. "Time to go with your least used technique. Do the Bunshin no jutsu."

""You got it Iruka-sensei." The boy concentrated and made the hand seal for the clones. Clouds of smoke appeared besides him and two perfect clones appeared.

"Very good Naruto. You passed with flying colors." Iruka told him. "You overcame the fact that the Bunshin is your worst jutsu. I have no doubt you will be back next year." The two left the room and Iruka finished administering the tests. The class was all gathered together and Iruka and Mizuki appeared holding papers. "Congratulations to all who passed today. I'm sure you all know that your scores will be added together with the rest of yours and you will see whether you passed or not. The answers will be up within the next half-hour. These forms we are holding you are required to fill out and return to administration by the end of the week." They handed the papers out to the class. "Please return to your regular classroom until the end of the school day." Back in the classroom Naruto was going over the paper he was handed.

"Selection of desired courses? So I get to choose what I want to learn from now on. Very interesting. Let's see what ones are available. Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Genjutsu, Medical Jutsu, and in the final two years a Fuinjutsu course is available. Taijutsu is a viable substitute for physical education so that class won't be required anymore. Medical jutsu doesn't sound like much use to me. I will probably go with Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu, and Taijutsu. And when Fuinjutsu is available I'll drop Taijutsu for it." His thoughts were halted as Jingure walked inside the room.

"Congratulations to everyone for completing year four of the academy. The year is officially over now. Outside on the bulletin board is posted what class to report to and who has passed. Congratulations and see you next year." Jingure said. The children rushed outside to see whether they passed or not. Looking at the paper Naruto smiled. He passed the exams at the top of the class.

"Good job Naruto-kun." Hinata said giving him a big hug.

"Thanks Hinata-chan. But this is only the middle of our time here. We will see what happens at the end of the academy." Naruto said. He was going to continue talking to his friends when a person tapped on his shoulder. He turned around to see his silver haired teacher. "Hi Mizuki-sensei."

"Congratulations on your accomplishment Naruto-san."

"It's no big deal."

"No it's a very big achievement."

"Thanks Mizuki-sensei. Was there something else you needed?"

"Yeah, can I talk to you in private for a minute?" Naruto nodded and the two walked away from the group.

"What's going on sensei?" Naruto asked.

"There is something that the top of the class gets to participate in."

"What's that?"

"What if I told you there was a way to graduate early and become a Genin? But you can't tell anyone." A smile erupted on Naruto's face as a sinister smile appeared on Mizuki's.

/\/\

Translations:  
Chudan-ha: Disruption Wave  
Tsu Tsuyoi: Strong One  
Jeimi: Jimmie  
Fuuton: Hasai-ken – Wind Style: Shredding Fist  
Katon: Taiga Tsume – Fire Style: Tiger Claw

A/N: Again so sorry for the long wait. A lot of unavoidable things happened unfortunately. From now on I will just be translating jutsu and characters who will have aprominent effect on the story. Next chapter is the Forbidden Scroll scenario. It will come out much sooner than this one no worries. I hope you enjoyed; please review if so.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:  
Forbidden Scroll, Forbidden Touch

A/N: Wow, words can't even begin to describe how sorry I am for the long wait. I didn't realize it had almost been a year, serious case of writers block in addition to having a lot going on in my life right now. Last chapter was a success in my opinion. This chapter, like I said is about the stealing of the forbidden scroll. After this chapter is the one that ends their academy years. I know that eight chapters in is a lot in a story, but I am planning on this being a very long story. I plan on doing Naruto out of the village for three years after the Chuunin exams; so I am contemplating ending it after that and doing a sequel or keeping it one story. Well as usual; read and enjoy.

/\/\

Iruka stood amidst a large gathering of ninja in front of the Hokage tower. "Shinobi of Konoha; one of our own has stolen the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing." Everyone gasped at this. That was the most secure item in the entire village. "This person needs to be called in for questioning. He must be brought in alive."

"Who is the perpetrator?" Iruka looked and saw it was Mizuki who asked the question.

"It was Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka's jaw dropped and a couple other ninja grumbled. "You are all tasked with finding the boy. And remember; I need him alive so as I can question him." Iruka wasted no time and ran from the group. He stopped at a corner of a building and concentrated.

"Come on where are you at Naruto?" Iruka asked himself. Various chakras rushed past his senses until he got to one that was fluctuating heavily. It was a very potent and moving wildly. "There you are." He locked that one into his head and headed in the direction of it. Being so focused on Naruto; he never sensed a person follow him. His search took him into training ground twenty-five. It was very secluded and had a limited open space with only a small shack on the edges. He landed in the clearing with a frown on his face. A disheveled boy looked up from a large open scroll on the ground. "What the hell did you do Naruto?"

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" The blonde yelled cheerfully. "You only gave me enough time to learn one jutsu."

"What are you talking about? Do you know what you just did?" Iruka yelled at the boy.

"Yeah; Mizuki-sensei said that if I passed this test I could graduate early."

"What test?"

"He said that if I snuck into the Hokage's tower, took the scroll, and then learned a jutsu in the scroll that I could graduate early." Naruto rolled up the scroll and placed it on his back.

"Mizuki said this?"

"Yeah; he told me today after the tests." Iruka's eyes widened as he heard whistling through the air. Lunging forward he shoved Naruto backwards as a dozen shuriken embedded themselves into his body. Iruka went sliding back and hit roughly against the shack. Naruto looked on in shock as a person started to walk towards them.

"Good job Naruto; now bring me the scroll." Mizuki said making himself known.

"Don't Naruto." Iruka shouted. "Mizuki is using you to get the scroll. Take it and run back to the Hokage."

"Ah now you don't want to do that do you Naruto?" The boy took a step back. "If you leave now though; you won't find out why the village hates you." Naruto stopped and looked at Mizuki. "I see I have you attention now."

"Stop it Mizuki. You know it's forbidden to talk about." Iruka said.

"Oh shut it Iruka; you are in no position to be ordering me around." Mizuki replied. The man pulled off a large fuuma shuriken from his back and started spinning it. "For four years I have put on a façade of being your friend. It has all been for this moment right here."

"You know why they hate me?" Naruto stammered out.

"You know October 10th, twelve years ago?"

"Yes, when the Yondaime destroyed the Kyuubi." Mizuki started laughing.

"Oh how naïve people are. A being like the Kyuubi cannot be destroyed. The Yondaime realized this and id the only thing that could work; he had to seal it. After all the families the Kyuubi destroyed; they took their hatred out on the person it was sealed into." Naruto's knees buckled and he fell onto the ground. "I see you figured it out. You are the reincarnation of the cursed fox himself. Even Iruka hates you; you are the one who killed his family." The boy stumbled backwards on his butt before he turned and ran off into the trees.

"Naruto wait!" Iruka cried out to the boy.

"It's useless Iruka. Me and him are the same. He will use the scroll to become powerful and attack the village. I will be there to assist him. I will offer to teach him and take him from the village." Mizuki turned and started to walk in the direction Naruto ran off. "Just wait right there Iruka; I'll be back to finish you off." The man jumped into a tree and disappeared. Struggling Iruka stood up and slowly made his was in the same direction.

Mizuki traveled the area looking for Naruto. He found the boy huddled up with the scroll against the base of a tree. He landed in front of the boy causing Naruto to try to scoot farther back into the tree. "I'm not a demon." Was all Naruto muttered out.

"I know you aren't a demon; the village thinks that you are though." Mizuki told him. "Come with me and we will escape this prejudiced village. I will take you somewhere you can become strong and come back to take your revenge on the village and everyone in it."

"That's not what I want." Naruto replied. Mizuki sighed and pulled a second fuuma shuriken off of his back and slowly started to spin it.

"That's unfortunate; you could have become unstoppable where I am going." He charged towards the boy only to be tackled from the right by Iruka. The silver haired man rolled to his feet and shot forward kneeing the man in the face. Iruka was sent sprawling backwards crashing against a tree. "Why are you protecting him? He holds what murdered your family; he will eventually take revenge against the village; and you know why? Because no one in this village truly loves him." Naruto became extremely sad and felt something snap inside of him. "He is a monster; monsters want power. Despite what he told me I know he will leave and take the scroll with him." Iruka chuckled and coughed out a little blood.

"You are right; that's what a monster would do." Naruto sunk down even further if possible. "But Naruto is no monster. Naruto is the most hardworking student I have ever come across. He is a kind boy who would do anything for anyone if they were to ask." Naruto looked up at Iruka as the man praised him. Mizuki laughed out right at this.

"Then maybe they will ask him to speak at your funeral." Spinning the shuriken again he rushed at Iruka. "Do me a favor and scream!" He was two feet away when he felt a foot crack into his jaw sending him flying backwards. Rolling onto his hands and knees he looked up to see Naruto standing in front of Iruka in a defensive stance. Rubbing his jaw Mizuki smiled. "That's quite a kick you have there. Too bad it won't be enough."

"Maybe one kick won't, but how about one hundred?" Mizuki looked on confused as Naruto made a hand seal. A large amount of chakra came out of Naruto and the area filled with smoke. When it cleared there were one hundred Naruto's in the area. "Don't even try to touch Iruka-sensei or I will kill you."

"Oh I see you learned the Kage Bunshin from the scroll." Throwing the shuriken it sliced through twelve clones causing them to disappear. "I'm a Chuunin and you aren't even a Genin yet. And unfortunately you just used up a large amount of chakra." With a yell the group of Naruto's ran at the man. Mizuki pulled out two kunai and held them in a backwards grip. Ducking underneath a kick aimed at his head he plunged the kunai into the thigh and sliced upwards destroying the clone. He spun and impaled another clone in the throat while kicking backwards destroying a third clone with a head kick. He recovered his position and looked at the group of blondes that backed away a little. Smirked he ran through hand seals. "Futon: Daitoppa!" Swinging his hands forward and slapping them together; he caused a large gust of wind to rocket forward. It lifted a large group of about thirty clones into the air and slammed them into various trees destroying them all. His smirk turned into a grimace as a clone kneed him in the gut. Mizuki stabbed it as he hunched forward. His eyes widened as a sliding clone kicked him in the chin knocking him off of his feet. A clone jumped off of the trunk of a tree from behind him and knocked him higher with a kick in the back. A fourth clone jumped off of a branch in a high tree and doing a flip landed an axe kick into the man's chest. With a grunt he hit the ground and didn't move. With a smile on his face Naruto dispersed all of the clones and walked towards the downed man. His smile disappeared as the body turned into dust before breaking a part. He spun around as he heard a branch snap and saw Mizuki approaching Iruka with a kunai raised. Naruto quickly unclasped all of his weights and rushed the man.

Mizuki was tackled to the side as his kunai sunk into flesh. As he took a breath he felt a pair of hands wrap around his throat and start to squeeze. He went to pull the hands off of his throat when he felt a sharp pain in his throat. After the pain he felt his energy start to get sucked out of him. Naruto just scowled at the man and squeezed tighter not noticing the small streaks of silver entering his hair. Mizuki gasped as he couldn't breath and started to desperately try to pry the hands off. The veins in his face and neck pushed their way to the top of his skin as his eyes started to roll into the back on his head. Naruto kept his grip until Mizuki's hands fell to the ground beside him. Naruto slowly stood up as he finally realized what happened. He stumbled before he screamed and grabbed the sides of his head.

He was assaulted by memories that were not familiar to him. A silver haired boy and a boy with a scar across his nose playing when they were younger. The same boy, now a teenager, becoming a Chuunin with the same boy as well. He lived the moment the man fell in love with the woman he met. He went through the hatred he felt for a blonde haired demon container. He met a man with black hair and yellow slitted eyes as he pledged loyalty to him. He received the mission to retrieve the Forbidden Scroll and leave the village. He lived through the man's final moments.

Naruto lay on the ground clutching and clawing at his temples screaming as memories that didn't belong to him plagued his mind. He could recall perfectly how to perform techniques as if he had gone through the work of learning them himself. He could recall security measures about the village and details about missions he never performed.

Iruka slowly made his way over to the boy. He was about to touch the boy and comfort him when a firm hand gripped his shoulder. "Don't touch him Iruka." He looked up and saw the Hokage standing there with a squad of ANBU. "Wolf; take the scroll back to the tower and contact all the search parties about us locating Naruto." The figure nodded and disappeared with the scroll. "Leopard; take Umino-san to the hospital to get treated for his wounds. When they have been treated bring him to my office." A smaller figure walked over to the downed Chuunin and using a Shunshin disappeared from the clearing. "Falcon; I need you to contact Naruto's father and get me Jingure-san as well." The third figure disappeared leaving the Hokage, two ANBU, Mizuki's corpse, and the now silent boy. "Tiger, take Mizuki's corpse to the morgue and contact all his loved ones. Tell them his death is still being investigated." The fourth ANBU quickly disappeared with the body. "Bear, as my longest active ANBU I am sure you remember how to initiate Containment Protocol Tsade?"

"Yes sir, that hasn't been used in close to twenty years though." The man's gruff voice replied.

"I was hoping to never have to enact it again, but it seems we have to." The Hokage said. "Do it Bear." With a nod the very large man moved forward until he stood besides the boy. He knelt down and started drawing lines and symbols in the dirt around the boy. Ten minutes passed by and Bear stood up to observe his work. In a two foot radius around Naruto was an intricate seal array with a lone seal at the man's feet. Making a serpent seal he stomped on the seal. It flashed red and disappeared into the rest of the array. The entire thing started glowing red and then it started to swirl around Naruto before condensing and appearing on the boy's body. Naruto had a red dot on his forehead and each of his cheeks. He had one on the back of each hand and you could see one on both of his hip bones; they were all connected by a red line as well. Bear grunted and tilted his head to the side cracking his neck before picking the boy up. "To my office." With a nod the two of them disappeared with a Shunshin. The reappeared in the Hokage tower and Naruto was set on a couch. "You can remove the seal now." As Bear stepped up to the boy the Hokage's door burst open and Kuzuri stormed in followed by Jingure and an angry Ema.

"Alright old man; what the hell happened?" Kuzuri demanded. He narrowed his eyes at the ANBU and his claws sprang out of his hands. "What is he doing to my son?"

"He is simply removing a containment seal from Naruto that enabled us to transport him." Running through a couple hand seals there was a flash of red light and the dots and lines disappeared. Bear stepped away and Ema moved towards the boy. "Ema stop." She was stopped in her tracks at the command. "Now; as you all know, today Naruto came to me and told me that he was approached by Mizuki for an early graduation test. You gave me permission to use him in a sting operation to try to find out what Mizuki was up to. Everything was going according to plan until Mizuki announced to Naruto what was sealed inside of him."

"That son of a bitch." Kuzuri said.

"This is where the plan went askew. Naruto ran off and a battle between Iruka and Mizuki. Before Mizuki could kill Iruka, Naruto stopped the man. He used the Kage Bunshin and created at least one hundred of them. They fought for a couple minutes with it appearing that Naruto defeated the man. When it was revealed only to be an Tsuchi Bunshin, Naruto tackled the real one preventing him from landing a fatal blow on Iruka. Naruto then proceeded to strangle the man to death." Ema and Jingure gasped and Kuzuri frowned. "I don't think that the strangling is what killed the man though. A Chuunin should have been able to get an academy students hands off of his throat; especially with the upgraded standards on our shinobi. This is merely hypothetical without Jiraiya here to confirm it, but I think that the Kyuubi made his presence known with the revelation that it was contained inside of him. Before I reveal any more information about it; I want to wait for Naruto to wake up so that he can learn about this as well."

"This better be real fucking good." Kuzuri told the man. "I didn't think my kid would be getting hurt on this little mission of yours."

"If you all could just please sit while we wait." Hiruzen said. Kuzuri sat down scowling before putting a comforting arm around a tearful Ema.

"Hey there is no reason to be crying."

"We don't know that. What if Naruto is seriously hurt?" She asked.

"How many times has Naruto been hurt only to recover in an insanely short time?" Kuzuri responded. "That kid is tougher than most of the people I have ever met; I have no doubt that he will be fine." Ema seemed to calm down slightly at that.

"If you don't mind me asking Hokage-sama; why did you call for me?" Jingure asked the man. "While I care about Naruto deeply, I would have thought this be a meeting just for his father."

"All will be explained once the boy is awake. I just need the best telepath in here incase" Was his response. They waited for half an hour in complete silence before Naruto started stirring. With a groan he sat up on the couch and looked around confused.

"What happened old man?" He asked rubbing his head wincing.

"Your mission didn't go as we planned." Naruto's confused look was replaced by sadness.

"I remember now. I'm a demon; and I killed Mizuki."

"Don't be stupid." Kuzuri snapped at him. Naruto looked at the man in shock. "Do you really believe that?"

"But I murdered-"

"Stop right there." He told the boy. "If you are going to be a shinobi you need to get the notion of it being murder out of your head. That will be your job once you graduate." The boy looked down. "Even if that wasn't the case, you acted out of self-defense. There is no doubt that after Mizuki had killed Iruka that he would have killed you."

"What about the Kyuubi being sealed in me? That makes me a monster."

"Listen to what you just said. You just said 'sealed in you'. If water is in a cup; what does that cup become?" Ema spoke up now.

"It doesn't become anything, it's still a cup." Naruto replied. "So even though it is sealed in me, that doesn't make me a demon?"

"Correct." Hiruzen said. Naruto looked at the man. "Before you start asking questions let me tell you about the Kyuubi and the others. Hundreds of years ago the world was much different than it is today. The shinobi arts didn't exist and it was a world full of large building and vehicles with motors. The world had become so corrupt that the deity in charge had become disgusted and saddened. The being was known by many names such as God, Allah, and many others; we know the being as Kami. Thousands of years before that time he had created a flood for the same reason. This time he sent a different force. It was a creature with ten heads and ten tails. The nations of the time banded together to try to defeat the beast, but one by one entire continents were completely destroyed. A large continent known as Australia was the only one not destroyed. Every building and all physical traces of technology were wiped out as well. A small group of nomads living in the middle of the desert were the only people spared. Over time the knowledge the group held of their world became diluted and disappeared over the generations. Hundreds of years after the beast attacked a man known today as the Rikudo Sennin was wandering through the desert. He made himself a hermit and during his years alone he grasped the concept of chakra. Manipulating it he created the various Ninjutsu. Returning to his fellow nomads he passed the knowledge on to them thus creating the first classification of shinobi. Various people had a reaction to the use of chakra creating the bloodline clans across the world today."

"God did not like the power they were obtaining as it would only lead to more corruption and war; Even though the Sage was a firm believer of peace. Eventually different clans of nomads started to war with each other using the Ninjutsu they created. The Rikudo Sennin worked even harder to try to spread peace while God became more saddened. This resulted in him sending the beast once again. It meticulously started to attack the colonies of nomads. As it made its way towards the Sennin's village the man went to meet the creature in battle. Utilizing his abilities in chakra he managed to seal the creature into his own body and gave it the name of Jubi."

"Thanks for the history lesson, but that doesn't explain what happened today." Naruto said.

"I was getting there Naruto." The Hokage replied. "Eventually the Sage became a father of two boys. Their birth caused him to think about the future and the beast he sealed inside of himself. He realized that when he died the creature would be released on the world to finish destroying it. That caused him to come up with a new plan. He created two different sets of seals. One would take the Jubi's body and seal it into the moon; the other would take the Jubi's chakra and divide it up into nine different pieces. The sage found nine willing candidates and sealed the nine different parts into each individual; thus creating the first group of Jinchuriki. What the Sage didn't realize was that when he did this; each piece gained its own sentience. They gained forms, abilities, and voices. Yet none of them remembered being whole. They developed a hierarchy among themselves as well. All of them answered to the strongest and the weaker they were the more of the others they had to answer to. To identify who was the strongest they developed tails. So the one tailed demon would answer to all the other demons; while the five tailed demon would answer to any with six or more he also has dominion over the four tailed and lower demons. Demons one through four pushed biological changes onto their hosts to give them a chance at standing up to the higher tailed demons."

"The Ichibi no Shukaku gave his host complete control over the sand; with it the container could create attacks and armor, the Nibi no Bakeneko gave its host what is called the touch of death; any who touched the container would immediately die. This was because it was a female host and the demon didn't want its container to be raped. The Sanbi no Kyodaigame altered its hosts body structure to be able to live and breathe underwater; along with extremely high manipulation over water. Finally the Yonbi no Saru also altered its hosts body structure; it did so by making it to resemble that of a monkey. Besides those four one more altered its hosts genetics, that would be the Kyuubi no Yoko. He gave his host an ability similar to that of the Nibi. The host of the Kyuubi had a touch that could kill as well. But while the Nibi's ability was a quick death; the Kyuubi's was a slow and painful death. Also while touching the person the host would gain the victims memories and if they knew any techniques he would learn them as well. If contact between the two was broken before the victim died, they could recover and continue living. But the host would always remember what was learned while touching them. The Kyuubi did this out of spite of his container; so that they could never have a spouse or love life."

"So this is what happened to me?" Naruto asked.

"I think so, but I'm not completely sure. Now there may be a way to suppress this ability, but I won't be able to know the answer to either of these without Jiraiya here. I activated a seal that goes straight to him so he should be in in a day or so." The Hokage said. "Now tell me Naruto; do you remember what you learned through touching Mizuki?" The boy nodded. "Can you recall who the man was answering to?"

"Yeah, it was some guy with long black hair and yellow eyes. He was extremely pale and it seemed like everyone around them was scared of him." The Hokage's eyes widened.

"Was a name ever spoken?"

"I think he called the man Orochimaru." Hiruzen slammed a fist down on his desk.

"I should have never allowed him to get away." He looked at the boy as he calmed down. "Now Naruto, do you want to forget the memories that you learned through Mizuki? Jingure here can help you do that." Naruto shook his head.

"No; if this is because of something in my body, than I don't want to deny anything about me." Naruto looked sadly at Ema. "So I can't touch anyone at all?"

"You can't make skin-to-skin contact with anyone. As long as that is avoided; then it will be alright."

"So I take it besides me and the other Jinchuriki; we are the only ones with these kinds of abilities?" Naruto asked. The Hokage actually chuckled slightly at this.

"Must you really ask that question Naruto? Have you not noticed the abilities of everyone in your family?" Naruto looked confusedly at Kuzuri, Ema, and Jingure.

"What are you talking about? Aren't they just bloodline abilities?"

"Wouldn't that make Ema and Jingure related since they have similar abilities?" Naruto looked at the two women.

"They certainly don't look related."

"And what about your father's?"

"The only clan with abilities over bones is the Kaguya clan. Unfortunately the entire clan is extinct." Jingure spoke up.

"Allow me to explain what this all is Naruto." The hokage said. "You learned in your science lessons that human cells contain twenty-three pairs of chromosomes correct?" The boy nodded his head. "Now let's use your father as an example. In the cells there are twenty-two pairs of what are called autosomes and one pair of chromosomes that decide whether you will be a boy or girl. When Kuzuri was born his cells contained the correct pairs of chromosomes, but there was something else inside of the cell in the form of an additional chromosome. This chromosome can cause a variety of different things to happen to a person's body. This can be something as simple as increased strength or an increase in intelligence, or it can cause something more drastic such as your father's claws and super-healing." He put his hands together and rested his elbows on the desk in front of him.

"Now I am going to tell you a highly classified piece of information. Ever since the founding of the village all newborn babies have been required to give a blood sample. This was to check for diseases and bloodlines. Not until the Nidaime's ruling though did they start checking for what we call the Z-Chromosome. Over the years we have had many people with it in our shinobi ranks. They have been given the name of mutants. You can't tell anyone any of this information, but the class that you are in; everyone has been tested positive for the Z-chromosome."

"Everyone? Even Sachiko-chan?" Naruto asked. The Hokage nodded his head. "What are their powers?"

"Now I can't tell you that as you are the only one of your class that has had a power surface." The old man told him. Naruto looked down deep in thought. "I know this is a lot for you to take in, but you need to remember that you have family that knows what you are going through. You have two months before you have to go back to the academy so you don't have to worry about your power acting up until then. And before that time I will get Jiraiya here to see what he can do."

"What about my friends?"

"For now you can't touch them. I would recommend wearing a long sleeve shirt and a pair of gloves. If any of your friends ask why say that you have a bloodline that doesn't allow you to have contact with people. That is technically true so you wouldn't be lying to your friends." Naruto just nodded his head at the man. "You can go home with your parents now; I will have an ANBU bring by payment for the completion of a C-rank mission." Naruto looked at the man shocked.

"You prevented a Chuunin level ninja from escaping the village with the forbidden scroll." The old man said with a smile. "Go rest now Naruto." Kuzuri put his hand on the boys shoulder and they walked out of the room. Ema kept looking worriedly at Naruto as the boy kept his gaze on the ground.

"Let's get him some new clothes so that he doesn't have to worry about hurting anyone." Kuzuri said. The three took a detour towards the market district and went into a shinobi supply store. The man behind the counter smiled at the three as they walked through the door.

"Hello there Kuzuri-san! How may I be of assistance to you?" He asked.

"We are just going to browse your wares for a little while."

"Very well sir, if you need anything at all please let me know." He said with a smile. The three walked to the clothing section and look around at the shirts.

"How about this one?" Ema asked pulling one off of the rack. It was a plain black long sleeve with a dark orange stripe going up each side. "It even has some orange for you Naruto." The woman said with a wink. A small smile appeared on Naruto's face at that. He took the shirt from Ema and walked into a dressing room. A minute later he walked out and his mother figure clapped her hands approvingly. "It looks great on you. And you don't have to worry about the sleeves coming up either." The shirt was form fitting on the boy and he tested out whether they really did ride up or not and found that they didn't. "Perfect, I'll pick out some more just like that. Kuzuri, why don't you take him to find him some gloves?" Ema started looking through the shirts with a newfound glee.

"Alright Naruto, find a pair of gloves that you think will work for you. They should be tight on your hands so that you can run through hand seals as fast as you usually do." The boy nodded and started looking though the different pairs of gloves. He picked up a black pair with a thin piece of steel running along each finger and a slightly larger piece on the top. He put them on and flexed his hands in them. They were surprisingly light-weight and when he made a fist the steel strips were actually individual pieces of metal on the finger between the joints. He practiced doing hand seals and found that the gloves didn't impair his speed.

"I like these ones dad." He said to Kuzuri.

"Ah you have an eye for exceptional items." The man from before said walking up to the two. "These gloves are specialty items straight from Yukigakure. The steel on the gloves have seals etched into them that increases the durability, but lessens the weight of them. And also if you look on the palm of the glove you will see a seal on it." Naruto turned his hand over and saw the mentioned seal. "There is an identical one on the inside of the glove as well. They allow the person wearing the gloves to mold chakra on the outside of the glove without damaging them. Most ninja wear fingerless gloves for this reason as the lack of material around the fingers allows chakra to move freely from them. These gloves allow maximum protection without sacrificing any practicality." Kuzuri nodded his head at that.

"And how much would those gloves cost us?" Kuzuri asked.

"We purchased them for a reasonable price from Yuki; and while our asking price is 4,500, I would be willing to part with them for 2,300 for you." He replied. "You and your associates are my best customers and I hope that your boy here will make me his place to shop." Kuzuri took the gloves from Naruto and looked over them. He then looked at Naruto who was giving him a pleading look.

"Alright I'll take them." He glanced over at Ema who was now looking through the pants section with an armful of shirts. "And whatever the lady picks out for the boy." The man clapped his hands together again.

"Wonderful! I will be at the front whenever your group is ready." The man said happily as Kuzuri walked over to where Ema was. Naruto moved on from the gloves and started looking at new holsters for his kunai and shuriken. The man walked to the cash register with a slight hop in his step. A young man walked out of a doorway from the back as he was adjusting his tie. He looked over the store before his eyes landed on Naruto. He scowled as he saw the boy and walked over to him.

"What are you doing here monster?" He demanded of him. Naruto looked at him with wide eyes. "Don't you know that freaks like you aren't welcome in upstanding establishments such as this?" Naruto looked down at the ground and the man grabbed his shoulder harshly. "You need to leave now!" He snapped. Kuzuri and Ema looked up from where they were and Kuzuri's eyes narrowed. He went to step towards the two when he caught the helpful man from before walking quickly over to the two with a furious look on his face. He grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it harshly causing a yelp in pain.

"What do you think you're doing Dokugyo?" He snapped.

"Ah Mosho-san. I was simply planning on escorting this..beast from the premises." He said wincing as the mans grip tightened.

"And what makes you think I would like that to happen?" He asked applying more pressure causing the man to wince again. "This BOY," He said emphasizing the word boy. "is a valued customer of Sae Outfitters despite what ex-employees think." He pulled the man towards the door of the store.

"What do you mean ex-employees?" Mosho spun Dokugyo around so that he was facing him.

"Exactly that. You're fired." With that said he shoved the man out the door and onto his back. "And if another business comes here seeking a referral of you; don't expect to get the job." The door shut leaving a stunned man sitting in the street. Mosho turned around to face the three in the store with a smile. "Well looks like I will need to find a new stock boy." He said with a chuckle. "I apologize for the treatment you received from him." He said bowing to Naruto. "Despite the opinions of idiots, you will always be welcomed here Naruto-san." The boy broke out into a smile.

"Thank you Mosho-san." Ema said walking up with various items in her arms. She placed them on the counter with a smile. "We will take all of these to.

"Let me just ring you up and we will be on our way." He replied with a smile. "Alright, the total will be 3,450." Kuzuri pulled the bills out of his wallet and laid them on the counter.

"Here Naruto, go put these on while we bag everything up." Ema told him handing him a pair of pants. Naruto did as told and changed his pants. When he walked out of the dressing room he was wearing a pair of loose black pants. Ema smiled at his outfit. "You are going to make one heck of a shinobi Naruto."

"Thanks mom." He replied with a smile. They left the store with a cheerful good-bye from the store owner. As they walked down the road towards their home Naruto looked in the direction of the Hyuuga compound. Kuzuri smirked and ruffled the boys hair.

"Go ahead and visit your little girlfriend. We will take everything back to the house. Don't be out to much later." Naruto smiled and ran off. He arrived and quickly asked the Hyuuga guard if he could speak with Hinata. The man disappeared into the building and a couple minutes later Hinata came out. She gave Naruto a look that he was much more accustomed to seeing from the villagers and not from his girlfriend, fear.

"Hey Hinata-chan!" He said cheerfully.

"I saw you tonight Naruto." The boy's heart sank at her comment. "After thinking it over I can't be with you anymore." His sinking heart broke.

"But why?" The boy managed to choke out.

"You scared me with your actions, and I can't be with someone who I am afraid of." She replied this time with tears of her own in her eyes. "You need to leave now." She barely finished her statement before Naruto turned and ran with tears running down his face. He got home and burst through the door startling Kuzuri, Ema, and Sachiko. Not stopping he went straight to his room. Kuzuri and Ema gave eachother knowing looks while Sachiko got up to go talk to him. She was stopped at the bottom of the stairs by Kuzuri.

"Let me go talk to him first." He told her. Begrudgingly the girl nodded her head. The man quickly went up the stairs and knocked on his sons door. "Naruto, can I come in." He didn't hear a response so he just walked in. He frowned as he saw his son lying on the bed with his face buried in the pillows. He sat down on the edge next to the boy. They sat in silence for a couple minutes before Kuzuri spoke up. "I know how you are feeling right now Naruto. I know how badly you are hurting." The boy still didn't speak up. "Do you want to hear the story of when my powers first made themselves known." Naruto actually turned his head and looked at Kuzuri. I was probably around your age and I was really sick. I was always getting really sick. Well my step-father and step-brother were watching over me while my mother was downstairs. A man came into our house and shot the man I had always known as my father. I was angry, no scratch that I was furious. And next thing I knew I had these bone claws out of the back of my hands and I killed the man. With his dying breath he told me that I was really his son. My world was spinning. And to make matters worse my mother, the woman who told me that I was always going to be her baby, asked me 'What are you?'. You know what I did next?" Naruto shook his head. "I ran. I ran because I was terrified. Terrified because of what I had done, what was going on in my body, and what was I going to do all alone."

"How did you manage to recover?" Naruto asked.

"It was all because of my brother." Kuzuri replied. "Despite how much I hate him now; I probably wouldn't be here in this village without him. We grew up together and the entire time we just looked out for eachother. He was a mutant and I was a mutant."

"What does that have to do with my situation?"

"No matter how much pain is caused to you by those that don't understand; there is always those out there that are ready to assist and help you through your time of need." He said. "And lucky for you, you live in a compound with many people who have gone through what you did. And I am sure that your friends will understand and be supportive if you talk to them. And I know one person downstairs that I have no doubt would be supportive of you."

"You really think I should tell Sachiko-san?"

"That's completely up to you kid. It's your secret to tell, along with your fuzzy neighbor. It's up to whether you are comfortable telling anyone your secrets or not." Kuzuri stood up and walked towards the door. "Whatever you decide, remember that your family will support you." Kuzuri opened up the door and walked out closing it behind him. Naruto sat in silence for a few minutes before there was a light knock on the door.

"Come in." He quietly said. The door opened and Sachiko walked into the room closing the door behind her. "Hey Sachiko-chan." She sat on the bed next to him eyeing his new clothing curiously.

"Hey Naruto-kun, what was all the commotion about?" She asked. Naruto took a deep breath before responding.

"Well, Hinata broke up with me and basically said she doesn't want anything to do with me." He told her. Inside Sachiko's mind a chibi version of her was doing a happy dance. But the sadness on Naruto's face caused Sachiko to ball her fists in anger. "I can't say that I blame her though. And I think you should take the same path as her."

"What?" She asked angrily. "Why would you say that?"

"You know what everyone in this compound is right?"

"Yeah, a mutant why?"

"I'm a mutant as well apparently." He held up his arm and shook it. "I'm all bandaged up and I wear these gloves because of it. I can't have any skin to skin contact without hurting the other person." Sachiko looked ready to speak but Naruto stopped her. "There is another thing. You know the story of the Kyuubi?"

"Everyone does Naruto. The fourth Hokage destroyed it and died in the process."

"Unfortunately that isn't the truth." Sachiko looked at him confused. "The Kyuubi couldn't be killed. None of the tailed beasts can be killed actually. They can only be stopped by being sealed into something." Realization dawned on Sachiko's face.

"The Kyuubi is sealed in you?" Naruto grimly nodded his head. "And you think I should avoid you because of these two facts?" Again Naruto nodded his head. There was a few seconds of silence than there was a loud slap. Naruto recoiled and held a hand up to the cheek that Sachiko just slapped. "Listen here Uzumaki Naruto," She said angrily standing up. She turned and looked him in the eye. "I have been living in this compound for years and interacting with everyone who has powers. I couldn't even dislike them if I wanted to. And if you think the fact that my best-friend has powers, and an age-old demon sealed inside of him would cause me to hate and fear him; you have another thing coming. You're stuck with me buster." Naruto smiled at the girl. He stood up and enveloped her in a hug.

"Thanks Sachiko-chan, I needed to hear that." They broke off the hug.

"And don't worry about Hinata; she doesn't know what she is missing out on." She told him. "By the way, what was it that caused her to freak out on you?" Naruto took another deep breath and told her the story. A couple minutes later Sachiko shook her head angrily. "So she broke up with you because you were defending yourself against a rouge Chuunin and your powers surfaced." A scowl marred her features. "Doesn't she realize that as shinobi we will be required to kill?"

"Don't worry about it Sachiko-chan. I will just have to put this behind me." Naruto's face fell.

"What are you thinking Naruto?"

"Well, what if everyone else stops being my friend to?"

"Naruto, I don't think you are having much faith in our friends. Given the chance to explain yourself; I think they will be just as supportive as me." Naruto smiled at the girl.

"You're a great friend Sachiko." He told her. She frowned slightly before quickly replacing it with a smile.

"Well, I bet you had a tough day and it's late. Get some sleep and if you want to we will tell everyone tomorrow." She said. "Goodnight Naruto-kun."

"Goodnight Sachiko-chan." Naruto replied with a smile as the girl left. The rest of the night passed quickly and Naruto was eating breakfast with his family.

"Are you sure you want to do this Naruto?" His father asked. The boy nodded.

"Yeah, if they won't accept me with this, than I should find out now instead of later." He replied.

"Alright, just know that Ema and I will be here for you if anything goes wrong." Naruto and Sachiko finished eating than walked out the door giving a greeting to Shadou as she walked in.

"So how did the kid take it?" She asked as the door shut.

"Surprisingly well. A lot better than most people would have." Ema said taking the dishes from the table and putting them in the sink. "I think that if Sachiko wasn't so supportive than he would be having a much rougher time."

"That makes sense. I don't know what I would have done if Sarutobi didn't find me and help me through everything." Shadou replied.

"Now the real test is to see if all his friends will react how Sachiko did." Kuzuri said. The two women looked at eachother worriedly.

-Naruto-

Naruto and his friends all sat around a table at the Konoha City Park. "Alright, what was so important that we couldn't just get into our ball game?" Kiba asked spinning a basketball on his finger. It fell off bouncing off the table causing Shikamaru to groan.

"Troublesome dog boy, can't a guy get any sleep?" He asked sitting up.

"I don't even know why you come to our hangouts if its keeps you from sleeping." Choji said from the pineapple headed boy.

"Please, I have to drag him out of his house everyday to come here." Ino chimed in.

"Before we continue bashing our lethargic comrade; perhaps we should let Naruto explain." Shino spoke up.

"Thanks Shino." Naruto said. He took a deep breath before he spoke. "You guys know the big commotion last night?"

"Yeah, someone snagged the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing from the Hokage Tower." Kiba replied.

"Well, that was me." Taking another breath he continued. "After we got out of the academy yesterday Mizuki-sensei approached me. He told me about a secret test that would have allowed me to graduate early. He said stealing the scroll was the test. I agreed, but it sounded pretty farfetched to me. So I went to talk to Sarutobi-jiji about it. He swore up and down that there was no test. So he figured out that Mizuki was up to no good. He let me take the scroll but had ANBU tail me to the area. I was to confront Mizuki and if necessary than the ANBU would back me up."

"Everyone knows the scroll is back though so you succeeded. You beat up Mizuki good didn't you?" Ino asked. Naruto looked down slightly.

"Well, nothing went according to plan. Iruka showed up as part of the search the Hokage sent. Mizuki attacked him before admitting that the test was a sham. So I attacked Mizuki for harming Iruka." Naruto paused for a couple seconds. "When I was battling Mizuki, it was pretty even and I thought that I had beat him, but it turned out to be a Tsuchi Bunshin. When I found the real Mizuki he was about to kill Iruka-sensei. I tackled him and all training went out the window as I started to strangle him."

"That makes no sense, he is a grown man and you are a kid. You wouldn't be strong enough to do any harm." Shikamaru said.

"You're right, I'm not strong enough. But something else happened that night." Naruto explained the chromosome lecture Hiruzen told him the night before. "So my power awakened that night and I killed Mizuki-sensei because I couldn't control it."

"That would explain Naruto's new clothing." Sai said. "To prevent you from accidentally harming any of us." Naruto nodded as Ino crossed her arms pouting.

"What's wrong Ino-chan?" Naruto asked.

"That means I can't tackle you anymore." She whined. Naruto chuckled at this.

"So my power doesn't scare any of you?" He asked.

"Of course it scares us." Kiba said picking his basketball up. "That's a pretty scary power you have there." Naruto's face fell and Sachiko looked like she was going to rip into Kiba. "But that doesn't change who you are. You're Uzumaki Naruto and my best friend." Everyone else agreed and Naruto smiled as tears of joy came to his eyes.

"Hey, why isn't Hinata here?" Ino asked. Naruto's smile disappeared at the question. He quickly explained what had happened and everyone looked angry, even the lazy Shikamaru. "Why, that….that…ugh!" Ino shouted. "I can't believe that. I ought to go give her a piece of my mind." Ino stood up and made to leave but was stopped as Naruto grabbed her arm.

"No, leave her be Ino-chan. I don't want to start anymore problems with her." He said. He looked at Sachiko questioningly and she nodded her head. "I have one more thing I need to tell you guys." Everyone looked at him expectantly. "You know how everyone was told that the Kyuubi was destroyed?" They nodded. "That was a lie, he couldn't be destroyed. The only way to stop the Kyuubi was to seal him into a newborn child." Shikamaru was the first one to realize what he was saying.

"Naruto, you troublesome blonde you." He said shaking his head. "If you think this is going to change our opinion of you also you're sorely mistaken. You're going to have to try harder to get rid of us."

"What do you mean Shika?" Chouji asked.

"You havn't figured out who the baby that got the Kyuubi sealed in him is yet have you?" When Shikamaru said HIM everyone looked at Naruto who nodded gravely. He was surprised as a pair of arm carefully wrapped around him. He looked up and saw it was Ino.

"You just can't catch a break can you Naruto-kun?" She said jokingly. "The way I look at it, your secret is no big deal. I mean we hang with a guy who smells like a dog and another who has gross bugs living in him, no offense Shino." Everyone chuckled at that as Kiba quickly stood up.

"Yeah, yeah; laugh it up at the dog boy." He dribbled the ball. "Now that we are done with the important stuff, can we get our game started?" His response was a blonde blur stealing the ball from him. He looked and saw Ino spinning the ball on her finger and sticking her tongue out at him.

"Me, Naruto-kun, Shino and Sai against you, Sachiko, Shikamaru, and Chouji."

"Who put you in charge." Shikamaru grumbled only to receive a bounce pass to the head. He rubbed the spot and muttered something that sounded like psychotic women. Everyone ran to the court except Sachiko and Naruto.

"See Naruto, you worried for no reason." She said giving him a smile that he returned.

"Yeah I guess so, I couldn't have asked for better friends."

"Now, let's go play. Don't think just because you had a rough night that I'm going to go easy on you." She said winking.

"Oh please, you're so going down Sachiko-chan." The blonde said happily. She ran to the court and was followed by Naruto who had an enormous smile on his face.

A/N: Again, I can't apologize enough to those that enjoy my story for the long ass wait. Like I said, I got caught up in other thing going on in my life. I hope though that this chapter was acceptable to you all. I have got my creative juices flowing again so the next chapter should come out within a week. Next chapter will be another long on going through the last four years at the academy. So two chapters until the real action.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A/N: Alright, so I'm excited to be writing again, and even more excited to get this chapter done so that I can get to the more exciting (in my opinion) parts of the story. Like I stated earlier this is the final four years of the academy. Graduation and team placements will be in this chapter as well. Like usual; read, review, and enjoy!

-Academy, Year Five-

Naruto groaned as he sat through another theory in Ninjutsu lecture. 'Man, this is so boring. Can't they just teach us cool jutsu? I want to learn some that I can use instead of the ones I got from Mizuki-teme.' The boy thought. He sighed as the teacher started discussing the different hand seals and what they brought to an individual jutsu. Naruto probably would have taken the teacher more seriously if he wasn't reading a joke book and didn't have gravity defying silver hair.

"Is there a problem Naruto-san?" The man asked not looking up from the book.

"I was just wondering when we would be learning some actual techniques is all. I mean, we have been going over chakra application, theory, and control exercises for the past six months." Naruto replied. The man casually closed his book and looked up at his class. It wasn't very large as the medical and Genjutsu classes were in the same time frame. So he looked out over the class of twenty before he sighed.

"Well Naruto, the chakra application part is so that you can understand what the chakra in a particular technique is doing and how the technique is working. Let's say you use a fireball technique without understanding how to truly mold the chakra or how much to put into it. If you mold it the incorrect way it can either explode in your lungs causing a painful death, or if you don't use enough chakra it will come out as a little fizzle. Theory goes over what a specific seal can bring to a technique." Kakashi slowly did hand seals and ended on Tora. A small ball of fire sat in the middle of his left palm. He closed his hand and the technique disappeared. "Now, if I do the same sequence of seals but add a Dragon seal in the middle," He did just that and in his hand sat a small stream of fire that Kakashi was moving in a circle. "it adds fluidity into the technique. That's why usually a flamethrower technique will have a couple Dragon seals in it. And final, the chakra control exercises are exactly for what they describe. They are to help you control your chakra. If you increase your control than you can use less chakra for better results. If you become experienced enough in the theory department and control, than you can even take seals out of a technique, but it still has the same effect." Kakashi did a couple hand seals and the stream of fire was moving in his hand again. "See, I did the same technique, but I didn't need to use the Dragon seal. That's because my control level is high and I know how chakra moves." The class looked on in slight amazement. The man did his patented eye smile as he opened his book again. "Now, back to the lecture. And if everyone scores well on their test tomorrow than maybe we will start to learn some basic techniques." With that said he continued his class noticing that they were paying much better attention and even Naruto was sitting up and taking notes. Kakashi couldn't wait until this year long mission was over and he could go back to doing missions and getting out of the village.

Naruto glanced around the room at a pause in Kakashi's lecture. There were primarily faces he didn't recognize so he figured they were from the other class of their year. The few faces he did recognize were those of Kiba, Chouji, and Sai. Ino enrolled in the medical jutsu class and so did Shino. He said something about making a breakthrough with his Kikai bugs while discussing something with his father. Sachiko decided to focus on Genjutsu along with Shikamaru. Her reason was more based on previous clan tendencies of focusing on said art. Shikamaru decided to because it seemed like the least troublesome path of the three.

"Alright everyone, outside to run chakra control exercise for the remaining half-hour." The class groaned together as they followed the lazy man outside. The area they came out into was littered with over thirty trees. "Okay class, you are to do the tree climbing exercise. When you reach the top of the tree you are to pick twelve leaves. Stick one leaf to each finger and one to the middle of your palm. You are then to continue running up and down the tree while maintaining control of the leaves. After your fifth time performing the exercise, you are to spin the leaf in the middle of your palm while keeping the others perfectly still. This is the exercise you will continue doing until the lunch period. Naruto cursed under his breath. Tree climbing was no problem; neither was sticking the leaves to his hands. He always struggled with the spinning of the middle one.

"Alright, I'm gonna get it this time." He said. He quickly ascended the tree and picked the correct number of leaves. He than quickly went up and down five times. He took a deep breath when he reached the bottom and slowly started spinning the leaf in his left palm. When that was spinning at a slow speed he did the same at the right palm. He carefully kept spinning the two and started walking up the tree. He increased the speed that he both was walking and spinning the leaves. "I'm gonna make it to the end of class." The blonde cheered to himself. That lapse in concentration caused the two in his palms to fall off and he slid down the tree. "Damnit." He cursed. He received a quick smack to the back of his head. Rubbing it gently he looked at his silver haired teacher whose nose was still buried in his joke book.

"Language young man; or would you rather me tell your father that you're running around cursing like a sailor?" Naruto paled slightly. "But he might congratulate you since I know he has some less than approving language." The bell rang and Naruto sighed as he dropped his leaves. He got up and went to meet up with his three friends that were waiting for him. "Oh and Naruto, next time you do this exercise just focus on spinning one leaf at a time."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei." The boy said with a smile as he jogged off to his friends.

"Ah Minato-sensei, if only you could see your boy now. You would be so proud of him." Kakashi said to himself looking up to the sky. With a remorseful sigh he switched the joke book for a more well-known orange covered one. "Welcome back my precious." He said with a very unmanly giggle as he did a quick Shunshin out of the area.

Naruto and his friends walked through the market district of the village. As they passed by the hot springs Naruto stopped as he heard giggles. "What's up Naruto-kun?" Sachiko asked.

"I thought I heard something. You guys go on ahead and I'll catch up." With a shrug the group walked on and Naruto went along the outer wall of the springs. As he reached the wall that kept people out of the women's side of the hot springs he saw who the giggling was coming from. A man with long white hair had his eye pressed up to a hole in the fence. In his hands were a notebook and a pencil. Glancing at it Naruto's hand pressed his nostrils together to keep the slight blood trail hidden. On the paper was a rough sketch of two women in a very provocative pose. Naruto took this time to clear his throat and tap the man on the shoulder. His hand was knocked away by the man who didn't even take his eye away from the wall. "Hey, you can't be doing this. It's wrong." He grabbed the mans shoulder roughly to give him a piece of his mind. In a split second his arm was twisted painfully behind his back and his face pushed into the ground.

"Listen here kid, don't bother me when I'm doing my research." The man said. He let the boy up and pushed him towards the road. "Now get out of here and leave me be." With that said the man turned back to looking through the peephole. Naruto stood up and gingerly rubbed his arm. He went to walk away from the man before a smirk appeared on his face. He snuck up behind the man and took a deep breath. Making his voice as high pitched as possible he shouted.

"Pervert peeping on the women's hot springs!" The voices on the other side of the wall went silent as the notepad and pencil dropped from the mans hands. He slowly stood up and turned around looking at the boy.

"I can't believe you just did that." Naruto poked his tongue out at the man and smiled. He hit Naruto over the head with his fist only for the boy to be replaced with smoke and a log. A second later the wall behind him exploded in a shower of wood. He turned around to find a horde of women picking up planks of wood from around the area. "Now, listen ladies, I'm sure we can talk this through like rational adults."

"No way Jiraiya. You know what happens when you get caught peeping." A purple haired women said stepping forward. "Get him girls." Jiraiya fell to the ground and rolled up into the fetal position; as they rushed forward to pummel the man when he was replaced by a log. The women looked around in confusion before cursing loudly and walking back into the building. Naruto watched from up in a tree across the street as Jiraiya lay on the ground below him. He slowly uncurled from the ball and lifted his head up.

"I'm not being beat to within an inch of my life?" He asked confusedly.

"You know, I should have let them beat the crap out of you." He looked up at Naruto. "You were supposed to show up here months ago." Jiraiya stood up and dusted himself off.

"I have been busy and this is the first chance I have had to make it back here. What does it matter to you anyways?" He asked.

"How about the fact you're the only person who knows anything about the containers of the Kyuubi?" Jiraiya's head snapped up to the tree and he took in the boy above him. The blonde hair, whisker marks, and blue eyes. He looked at the boys attire and frowned.

"So I take it the Kyuubi's 'gift' has surfaced; that would explain why the old man called me so suddenly." He sighed as he picked up his notepad and placed it in his pocket. "Alright, come on down here and we can go and take a look at your seal." Naruto landed on the ground and Jiraiya got a close up of him. "Strange, I would have expected that with you being a Jinchuriki you would be short and suffering from malnutrition. But you're what, five-six and probably weigh one hundred forty-five pounds?"

"You're a pretty good guesser. I'm five-five and weigh one thirty. And I'm healthy because I got adopted when I was younger." Jiraiya had a look of genuine shock on his face. "Why is that so strange?"

"Well, that's strictly because of your status. Most of the time Jinchuriki don't get adopted." He placed a hand on his chin and scratched it. "Well, they probably know I was going to show up, so why don't we head to your place and talk this over with them." Naruto shrugged and followed the man.

"Why not, that's where all my friends were heading to anyways." The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Naruto spoke. "So you're really one of the Sannin?"

"That's right, I'm technically the strongest one to." Naruto laughed behind the man. "What, you don't believe me?"

"Well not really, I have always heard that Tsunade was physically the strongest and Orochimaru was the prodigy."

"Tsunade is only the strongest physically because of her exceptional chakra control. Which she uses to dramatically increase her strength. That is really her only combat technique. Her real strength lies in her medical techniques, which are second to none. Orochimaru knows many jutsu, the only people who know more are probably the Sandaime Hokage and Hatake Kakashi. But he mainly uses distraction techniques."

"How can you be the strongest one when they know better or more techniques than you?" Naruto asked.

"I'm more of a complete shinobi than those two. I can use taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu all exceptionally well; my chakra control is extremely high, my stealth capabilities are exceptional, and I'm a master in two areas that those two are not."

"What two areas are those?"

"I'm a master in the art of fuinjutsu and I'm the only current user of senjutsu."

"What's senjutsu?"

"That's the art of using sage chakra." Naruto looked on in slight awe at the man walking in front of him. He stopped and looked back at Naruto. "Um, you mind leading the way kid? For all I know we are going the opposite direction." Naruto smirked before he jogged to the front and started leading the way. "So how do you like the academy?"

"It's great! I'm doing pretty good in all my classes. The teachers do a good job with the lessons."

"That's good to hear. I'm glad to see the younger generation is enthusiastic about becoming shinobi. What's your favorite area?"

"Well, I have always been really good at the stealth portion of the days. No one can beat me in that department; I can even evade Kiba and Shino most of the time. I like practicing taijutsu in class to. I wish the Ninjutsu class was better though. I want to learn some cool techniques."

"What techniques do you know?" Jiraiya asked him.

"I know the three basic jutsu, the Chudan-ha, Fuuton: Hasai-ken, and I'm sure as you know from the hokage's report, I know the Kage Bunshin." Jiraiya chuckled at the boy.

"And you're complaining about not learning techniques?"

"I want to learn as many as possible that way I can get stronger."

"Do you know what makes the ninjas that are well known today so great?" Naruto shook his head. "It's not how many jutsu they know. It's how proficient they are with a certain one. Take the man known as Uchiha Shisui. Everyone called him Shunshin no Shisui because of his mastery of the Shunshin. And Kakashi, he is known as the Copy-Cat ninja, but he is more well-known because of his mastery over his one original technique. And the Fourth Hokage, he was known as the Yellow Flash because of his Hiraishin no Jutsu. The more proficient you are at a certain technique; the more effective you can use it in battle. Who knows, you could be known as the Kawarimi Maelstrom if you wanted to." Naruto look away slightly. "I'm sure that whatever your teacher is instructing you all to do is going to greatly help you in the future. So take everything he tells you to heart and apply it to all you do."

"You know, I guess you're not so bad for a creepy, old pervert." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Hey now, I'm no pervert." Jiraiya argued. "I'm a super pervert!" He said with a cheer. Naruto's face fell at the statement. They arrived at the gate leading into the complex. The two identical looking men smiled at Naruto.

"Took you long enough to get here Fishcake. Your friends have been here for a while now." The one on the left said. "What took you so long?" Naruto jabbed his thumb at Jiraiya and the men's eyes widened. "Jiraiya-sama, we are honored to have a legendary ninja visit our home." The two men bowed.

"Wow, I didn't know perverts got such respect." Naruto said chuckling. Jiraiya smacked him in the back of the head.

"They show it when it's due. Remember that brat; after all, I'm going to check out your seal out of the goodness of my heart."

"Yeah, and a direct order from the old man." The blonde laughed and continued leading the way to his house.

"So who were those two?" Jiraiya asked looking around. "Actually, who are all these people? I have never seen any of these people; and they all have Konoha headbands on." His jaw dropped as he saw a couple young boys with black hair and onyx colored eyes run past followed by a little girl. "Are those Uchiha kids? I thought they were all murdered?" Chuckling behind them made them turn around. Kuzuri smirked and put the cigar he was smoking out by stepping on it.

"I'm glad that the Kage no Purotekuta can keep some secrets in a ninja village." He said.

"Ah there's a face that I recognize." Jiraiya replied walking up to shake the man's hand. "How are you? Man, you look like you haven't aged a day. You must use Tsunade's jutsu."

"He won't be very good once mom finds out he has been smoking his cigars again." Naruto chimed in. Kuzuri's eyes shifted around the area looking for the woman.

"Pipe down kid, we don't want her finding out now do we?" Kuzuri asked pulling some money out of his pocket. With a smile Naruto took the money and pocketed it.

"Find out what dad?" Jiraiya's eyes widened again at the statement.

"Wait, Yaban hito Kuzuri is the one who adopted you?" Kuzuri growled at the name.

"I can't believe that name is still in circulation after all these years."

"Well during the third ninja war you did eliminate an entire platoon of Kumo ninja without using anything but those blades of yours."

"Wow, I didn't know you did anything that great. I mean, all you ever do now is the occasional S-rank mission." Naruto said. "Maybe I could become Yaban hito Naruto?" Kuzuri hit him over the head.

"Don't let your mother hear you talking about things like that. It took a week of arguing with her to allow you back into the academy after the scroll incident." He told him. He looked at Jiraiya with a frown. "Speaking of which, took you damn well long enough to show up. Let's get home so we can talk things over. You're friends are waiting anyways Naruto. That Inuzaka brat won't quit crying about you being able to hide from him." With a smile Naruto followed the two to his house. "Alright Naruto, go tell your friends that you have to talk about things with me, your mother, and Jiraiya here." Kuzuri instructed him once they arrived. After the four were sitting down in the study Jiraiya started inspecting the seal. When he was done he handed Naruto his shirt.

"Put this back on." He told him. "Well, I have good news and bad news."

"What's the good news?" Ema asked wrapping an arm around Naruto.

"There is nothing life threatening wrong about the seal. It still works the way it is supposed to. It holds the fox at bay, and it gradually filters out the demonic presence in the chakra and adds it to Narutos. The parts of the seal that heal Naruto are still in effect, nothing serious is wrong."

"What do you mean serious?" Kuzuri questioned.

"That's where the bad news is. When the Fourth created the seal, he added in a piece to the seal that would keep the Kyuubi's gift from showing up in Naruto here." Jiraiya told them. "And my theory is that on the night of the scroll incident, the shock of Naruto finding out the fox was in him cause enough trauma on him that it caused that part of the seal to fail. And when it failed, it caused that part of the fox to rush into him with a hint of the fox's presence. Which would explain why Naruto's rage didn't subside until the fox's subsided at Mizuki's death."

"Is there anyway for you to reseal that part?" Naruto asked.

"In theory there is. I developed a seal for the last container. It would overlay the seal holding the fox in and it would completely seal the fox's chakra from the container. As in it wouldn't be reachable unless it was manually removed. But, with that come other effects. You won't be getting the purified chakra into your own chakra pool, the fox's chakra won't continue healing you, and you will lose the heightened senses you developed."

"I think I could handle losing those benefits if I could get my ability to touch back." Naruto said. "Did it work on the previous host?"

"That's why I said in theory it could be done. We never tested it on them because of the unknown effects. It could work perfectly and there never be any problems, but then it also could cause massive problems. The one major side-effect I was worried about came from sealing the chakra away. The reason a newborn is chosen to seal a bijuu into is because their chakra coils are undeveloped. If I were to seal its chakra away than it would give you coils to in a sense, heal. But let's say that I seal the chakra away, but four years from now something happens that causes the seal to become damaged or destroyed. Than the foxes chakra would enter your coils and tear them apart from the inside. With your coils destroyed the chakra would then enter straight into your body and kill you from the inside." Naruto and his parents looked at eachother at that information. "Now like I said, this is all theory. As something like this has never been done, the effects are basically a mystery. So it would be all up to you guys if the risks are worth it. Plus I wouldn't even be able to guarantee it would seal away the curse of the Kyuubi, since it now is ingrained in your DNA."

"Well that pretty much ruins what we were hoping would happen." Kuzuri said.

"It sounds like the potential risk isn't worth the potential gain." Naruto spoke up. "So I will never be able to touch again."

"Now we don't know that." Jiraiya added. "Very little is known about the Kyuubi's abilities. You could master its chakra enough to basically switch the ability on and off." He put a hand on the boys shoulder. "There is always hope, even if it is a one percent chance."

"Thanks Ero-sennin." Jiraiya frowned and Kuzuri laughed out loud. Naruto looked at his bandaged arms with a frown. "It's such a hassle to put these on and take them off every day." Jiraiya looked at Naruto's arms in contemplation.

"Well I think there is something I could do for you about that." Jiraiya smiled at Naruto's confused look. "Come on now, I told you on the way over here, I'm a master in the art of fuinjutsu." Naruto's shirt was off again and he took all the bandages off. Jiraiya unsealed a small box from a scroll and opened it up. He took out a brush and small ink pot; taking it out he drew an intricate seal array on the bottom of Naruto's forearms and the inside of his biceps with both connecting to a smaller seal on the inside of the elbows. When he was done with both arms they looked like it was cut in half. He wrapped Naruto's arms again with the bandages. He drew another array over the top of the bandages that when completed looked like the other half of the previous one with them connected at the elbow again. "Now, put your hand over the dot on the elbow and push out a little chakra." Naruto placed his left hand over his right elbow and did as told. The bandages unraveled from his shoulder and wrist and got sucked into the dot on the inside of his elbow. The seals continued glowing for a second before they disappeared and only the black dot remained. He did the same with the left arm and got the same result. "And all you have to do to get them back on is the same process." Naruto placed his hand over the dot again and pulsed his chakra. The bandages spun out of his elbow and quickly snapped into place.

"Wow this is great!" The boy cheered. "How does it work?"

"The seals I put on the corresponding parts allow the bandages to follow the path to their correct places. The dot there is actually a very small storage seal. I added a couple of seals around the shoulder area and the wrist area of the bandages that would keep them from coming unraveled on accident."

"You can do all that with seals?" The boy asked in awe.

"You bet cha. You can do almost anything with seals. You could even add seals to the bandages to make them hard as steel, withstand fire, or you could even create a seal that could store chakra if you need a quick refill." Jiraiya knew he had the boy hooked by the gleam in his eyes. "But alas, I am the last fuinjutsu master in the world; and I fear that when I die the art will disappear with me."

"No way!" Naruto shouted. "You have to teach me; it would be awesome to learn." He looked at his parents. "Can Jiraiya please teach me?"

"Now hold on there kid. I didn't say I wanted to train you yet."

"Please Jiraiya-sensei, I promise to train really hard and become the next great fuinjutsu master." Naruto pleaded. Jiraiya chuckled as he looked at Kuzuri and Ema.

"Why don't you let me talk to your parents alone for a while and I'll try to convince them to let me teach you for a while? Go hang out with your friends." Jiraiya told him. Naruto put on one of his beaming smiles and ran out the study door with Ema closing it behind them. Jiraiya did a couple hand seals and a blue flash briefly filled the room. "Now we have some privacy in case the kid wants to snoop. What do you guys think about me teaching Naruto a little bit while I'm in town for the week?"

"Honestly, I don't like the idea at all." Kuzuri said from his chair. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.

"And why would that be?"

"Maybe the fact that it took you twelve fucking years before you show up and show an interest in your godsons well-being." Was Kuzuri's reply. "Why decide to care now?"

"Because I know I screwed up." Jiraiya said. "I know I should have been there from day one, but I took off out of sadness. I couldn't stand the fact that the person I viewed as a son and his wife weren't alive anymore. So yeah, I booked it and didn't look back. It took me a year before I remembered that Kushina was pregnant, and as soon as I realized that I came right back." Jiraiya looked down in sadness. "When I showed up at the old man's office there he was in the corner, playing with some toys. Even at that age he reminded me so much of Minato. I walked in there prepared to drop everything and start raising the kid. Hell, I would have even given up writing my books to take care of him. But Hiruzen swore to me that Naruto was being treated great and he would be fine. When I tried arguing he used his authority to halt the subject. He said he would give me a yearly report of how he was doing, but he needed me to keep up my spy network. Honestly, that's why our relationship is so strained right now. He sent me the reports and they all said the same thing, he was doing great, he was healthy, and all that. Which I guess the last four years that's been true. Not a day went by when I wasn't tearing myself up for not being in the village; so to take my mind off of it I kept writing my books and immersed myself in my network, training, and searching for Orochimaru."

"What took you so long to come back then when Sarutobi told you that something happened?" Ema asked. Jiraiya took a deep breath before explaining.

"When I got the message I was in the process of digging up information on a group of ninja known as the Akatsuki and another group called the Sugureta Ningen." Kuzuri's head perked up at this. "I got a tip that the Akatsuki was searching for something, and it affected Naruto and other Jinchuriki. And I got information that the Sugureta Ningen is planning something. Now if I had left right when I got the message, than I wouldn't have found out what the Akatsuki is up to."

"Well, what are they doing that will affect Naruto?" Kuzuri asked.

"They are hunting down the Jinchuriki." Jiraiya replied. Ema gasped and Kuzuri scowled tightening his fists. "Now, all I found out was that right now, they are simply amassing their forces and they are holding off on trying to catch them right now. But from what I gathered is that they have a lock on all of their positions as it is."

"Does the other group pose as much of a threat?" Was Ema's question.

"As far as I can tell, no. They are more focused on building their strength. I haven't been able to find out what their actual plot is yet." Jiraiya stood up. "Which reminds me I have to get my findings on both groups to the Hokage today. So, do you have an answer on whether I can train Naruto or not?"

"As much as I don't like it, I can't say no. You're a Sannin after all. One of the strongest ninja in the world." Kuzuri said. "While I understand your reasons for not being here; it's doesn't mean I'm okay with them. Maybe I'll get over it but you better never hurt my son, or I will be coming after you." Jiraiya nodded at the man and the three walked out of the study. Naruto and his friends were in the kitchen eating some snacks.

"Alright kid, your parents are going to let me teach you a little bit. So every day for the next week I want you to meet me at the library at five. If you're late once, our sessions are over." Naruto nodded at the man.

"You got it, I won't be late at all." Naruto told him. Jiraiya smiled and let. As he walked out of the house he heard a loud cheer from Naruto. With a quick Shunshin Jiraiya reappeared in the Hokage's office. Hiruzen put his pen down and set the paper he was signing in the completed pile. He waved his hand and the ANBU in the room quickly left. Another set of hand seals and the blue flash of the silencing jutsu appeared.

"Welcome back to Konoha Jiraiya. I trust your evening with Naruto and his family has been eventful." He told him. Jiraiya sat down in a chair across from the Hokage.

"The kid reminds me so much of Minato even now. They are going to let me teach him for a little bit before I leave. He wants to learn some fuinjutsu." Jiraiya said with a smile.

"That kid is going to be a force to be reckoned with when he gets older." Hiruzen rested his chin on his hands. "But I'm sure that this meeting isn't about your interaction with Naruto."

"I guess we have had to many of those haven't we?" Jiraiya said gruffly. He pulled out two large scrolls and placed them on the desk. "The scroll on the left is all the information I currently have about the Akatsuki, the one on the right is about a second group known as the Sugureta Ningen."

"Well you have been sending me updates on the Akatsuki all along." Sarutobi said picking up the two scrolls. He placed the one with the information on the group down and looked at the other one. "What is this new group about?"

"You must recall during the Uchiha Massacre that there were a few strange people there who were going to assist them in their Coup?" The hokage nodded. "Those were members of the group. I don't know much else about them other than their leaders name."

"What is it? Maybe we can scrounge up some information on them."

"The man's name is Jiki."

-Academy, Year Seven-

Naruto took notes as he sat in the fuinjutsu class. He had open a book that he was writing the notes in. There were only a handful of students in the classroom and Naruto was the only one of his group in there. Their teacher was a man by the name of Kyoshi, he was the next best fuinjutsu user in the village, but he was leagues away from being even close to Jiraiya's level. The man put the chalk he was using to write on the board down and clapped his hands together. "Alright, now can anyone tell me why you would combine a stabilizing matrix with what we call a bouncing matrix?" Naruto raised his hand and the teacher smiled. "I should have known you would want to answer Naruto. Go ahead." Naruto put his pencil down and stood up.

"As is known, a stabilizing matrix is placed in a seal to keep the chakra in the seal from fluctuating and destroying the seal. A bouncing matrix, also known as a rebound matrix, takes the chakra from the stabilizing matrix and uses it to activate an explosive tag for example. Once it uses the chakra to activate the explosive seal it recalls it and activates a second seal linked to it. It repeats the process until all the seals linked to it are used up. So you could in theory have an explosive tag that sets off three explosions from one tag. You would need to add a delay to each explosive seal so that the three would detonate at the same time, but it could be done." The other kids in the class groaned at the boy.

"Correct once again Naruto." Kiyoshi said. "You have a real knack for the art of fuinjutsu." With that said Kiyoshi went back to teaching on the chalkboard. Naruto pulled out a notebook from his backpack and opened it. On the page were the two halves of Naruto's bandage seals with arrows pointing to various areas and descriptions of what they do. He turned to the next page which had another detailed matrix drawn out. Naruto pulled out another book and glanced at the title. 'Basic Seals for Everyday Use by Jiraiya' He opened it to a folded down page where there were a dozen different seals with a brief explanation of what they do.

'A fortification seal can be placed on things to keep them from breaking, such as plates, windows, or pots and pans. While this hardly would keep a person from breaking the window by jumping into it; it would keep the window from breaking if a rock were thrown at it. With the proper addition of a couple strengthening seals and a force displacement seal it would take a chakra enhanced punch from a Sannin to break the window. But that kind of combination will only be covered in my second book, Advanced Seals for Security Purposes.' Naruto studied the fortification seal for a couple minutes tuning out what the teacher was saying. He knew everything being covered from his studies into the art in his spare time. He picked up a pencil and started drawing the seal in an open spot on the notebook page. When he was finished he looked at it for a minute. He grinned satisfied as the bell rang letting them out for a day. With a large smile Naruto packed his stuff and hurried out. His friends were waiting for him at the entrance to the academy. "Hey guys!" He yelled to them.

"Man, I don't know how you can sit through that class of yours." Kiba said as the group left the academy grounds. "That stuff you were trying to explain to us sounds so boring." Naruto chuckled and hit his friend in the arm. Kiba flinched and rubbed the spot quickly. "Man Naruto, when you get static electricity build up it packs a punch."

"You're just sensitive Kiba-chan." Naruto replied with a smile. The group laughed and kept walking. "So where should we go today? I'm tired of always going to the complex."

"We could go to my families residence." Shino spoke up. "My mother greatly enjoys when people visit."

"Well you boys can go play around with bugs, Sachiko and I will go to the hot springs." Ino replied. Sachiko giggled from next to the girl and you could tell from Shino's body language he was glaring at the blonde.

"That sounds like a plan to me." She said linking arms with Ino. "We can have a little girls time and talk." The boys shuddered as she said the word talk. With a laugh the two girls walked away from the group of boys.

"Every time they get together for a girls day, I fear the end of Konoha." Sai spoke up.

"Troublesome women are always planning something." Shikamaru said shoving his hands in his pockets. "As much as I would like to join you guys, my father has deemed it necessary to step up my training in clan techniques now that we are in our last two years. Maybe we can get together this weekend though."

"Alright Shika, have fun with your training." Naruto replied. With a mutter of troublesome the boy started walking off. Naruto looked at Chouji. "And I'm guessing that your father wants to train you more to? Not wanting to be outdone by Shikaku and all."

"Man, you would have thought when those lazy Nara got up and started training seriously that the apocalypse was coming at my house." Chouji said before sticking another handful of chips in his mouth. "Have fun you guys, I'll catch up with you later." Chouji waved goodbye and walked down the road. The remaining four boys looked at eachother.

"Well, lead the way Shino." Naruto said. The four walked to the boys compound and were greeted by his mother.

"Hey everyone!" She said cheerfully. "Come in, come in. Shino's dad just left to meet the Hokage so you can sit in the backyard if you want to." Kiba looked at Shino confused.

"Wait, why does it matter that your dad just left?

"When father is home the backyard is his favorite spot. If there are people in it when he gets back he won't kick us out though." With looks of understanding they followed him to the back yard.

"Man Shino, no matter how many times I see your backyard it still takes my breath away. Your clan has the nicest compound here." Naruto told him. The backyard of Shino's house was surrounded by Sakura trees that formed a half circle around the house. There we hundreds of flowers of different colors. In the center of the backyard was a large fountain. The Aburame clan wouldn't be complete without bugs so of course there were bees and butterflies traveling around the area with the occasional dragonfly or two.

"Thank you Naruto. It's nice to know other people appreciate it as well." Shino replied. He broke out into a fit of coughing.

"Dude, you have been coughing non-stop the past couple of days." Kiba told him.

"And you were complaining about feeling nauseous." Sai said. "Maybe you need to go see a doctor?'

"There would be no reason to, if I were sick my kikaichu would destroy it." Shino went to sit down but stopped as his hands shot up to his head. Naruto moved towards him but he wasn't fast enough. Shino fell to the ground and started screaming.

"Kiba, go get his mom now!" Naruto yelled as he and Sai were quickly at their friends side. The feral boy didn't need to be told twice before he disappeared into the house. Seconds later he was running after Shino's mom into the back yard.

"What happened?" She shouted.

"We don't know. He was coughing earlier, but then he just grabbed his head and dropped to the ground screaming. She unzipped his jacket and pulled it off. "He is burning up." She gasped and covered her mouth when she looked at her sons body. He was sweating profusely from all his pores, but the strange thing was that the sweat wasn't drying up, it was hardening on his body forming a hard exterior. "You boys stay here, I'm going to go get some clan members to send for the medics." She quickly ran off and the boys looked on helplessly at their friend. The ten minutes she was gone felt like a lifetime as Shino continued screaming and the sweat hardening kept happening. Finally after five more minutes the process stopped and so did his screaming.

"Is he okay?" Sai asked. He was answered when Shino started screaming again and a strange ripping sound was heard. Four long transparent wings erupted from his back in a shower of blood. Everyone screamed and scrambled back from the boy. Shino finally stopped screaming and slowly stood up. When he opened his eyes he heard his mother and friends gasp. Noticing his glasses had fallen off he turned around and looked in the fountain. He was shocked that when he opened his eyes he saw hundreds of the same image. Finally focusing on the fountain his jaw dropped at what he saw. His eyes were compounded like those of a bugs, he had a strange hard substance covering his body, and four wings that hung limply from his back. Focusing on the wings he tried to move them. They sprang to life and stood out straight from his back. Moving them they started vibrating quickly and lifted the boy off the ground. He stopped moving them and dropped to the ground where the wings went limp again.

"What's happened to me?" Shino asked. His voice came out with a little buzzing in it. He walked towards the group and his mother backed away.

"Wh-what are you?" She asked. Shino stopped and his face was filled with sadness. This was the picture the Hokage and Shibi saw when they Shunshined into the backyard followed shortly by a squad of ANBU. The medic team and the member sent by Shino's mom arrived before the medics were quickly sent away by the Hokage.

"Tiger, take your squad and go gather Jingure and Shishi. Have them here now." The Hokage told them. Minutes later they arrived with the two people. Shino's mom moved further away when she saw Shishi. The two quickly moved to the boys side and started talking to him. The Hokage sighed and turned to face Shino's parents and friends. "So what happened?

"My son was on the ground screaming and then he turned into that thing!" She shouted. "What is he? What's going on?"

"Shibi, if you and your wife could please come with me inside the house and I can explain everything. Jingure, could you please come with us." With a nod the red head followed the three into the house. Naruto walked closer to his friend.

"Hey Shino, how are you feeling?" He asked. He flinched when his friend looked at him causing Shino to look away. "Sorry man, just not something I'm used to seeing."

"I'm so confused as to what's going on." He said in his buzzing voice. Kiba and Sai walked up to him.

"Dude Shino, you look bad ass." Kiba said smacking him on the shoulder. Shishi chuckled from beside the boy. Sai smacked Kiba in the back of the head.

"That is improper language Kiba." He told him. "But you have a point; Shino would make a very intimidating opponent on the battlefield." Naruto picked up Shino's coat and handed it to him. He put it on and found that it was long enough to hide the wings, and his glasses hid his eyes.

"There we go, you look good as new. At least you aren't covered in blue fur like some people around here." Naruto said with a smile. Shishi ruffled the blondes hair roughly.

"Watch it there blondie. Just because you got taller doesn't mean you can get away with that stuff." Shishi told him with a chuckle. "But he has a point, when it comes to physical alterations of the body; at least you don't have such a drastic change as mine."

"Thank you everyone." Shino replied. "I appreciate you trying to make me feel better. It's just, the way my mother looked at me." Shino looked down. The door to the house opened up and the Hokage walked out followed by Shibi and Jingure. When the Hokage reached Shino he explained to him what was happening with his body.

"So wait, me, Sai and everyone else will have something like this happen?" Kiba asked.

"That's correct. And you will do well to remember that this is a S-rank secret. I'm sure you know the punishment for letting that slip." He replied. Kiba gulped and nodded. Shibi stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Shino, as your father it pains me to do this. While my view of you hasn't changed in light of this, your mother's has." He placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "You will always be my son and a member of the clan, but you can't live here anymore." That drew cries of outrage from his friends as he looked sadly at the ground.

"I have a suggestion." Shishi said. All eyes were now on him. "If it would be okay with his father, the boy could come live with me. "I'm probably the only one in the village who knows what it's like to go through changes like this. I could be there to help him out, and I'm sure that Kyojin would help also."

"That is an acceptable proposal." He looked at Shino and everyone could feel the sadness coming from the man. "Son, I would like to use your new residence for your clan training."

"That seems possible." Shino replied after getting a reaffirming nod from Shishi. "And perhaps we could get together once a week for a meal?"

"That would be…great." Shibi said.

"Tiger, you and your squad go pack everything of Shino's into some sealing scrolls and deliver them to Shishi's residence." Sarutobi said handing the ANBU leader a couple of scrolls. They followed Shibi into the house and Sarutobi turned around facing the group. "Now, let's go show Shino his new home."

-Academy, Year Eight, Graduation Day-

Naruto sat in a large auditorium with the rest of the students from his year. On the stage stood Jingure behind a podium. To her side sat four Chuunin and on the other side sat a table with dozens of Konoha headbands. "Congratulations everyone for completing the final year of your shinobi training." The students all started cheering and clapping. "Now comes the final task to becoming a ninja of the wonderful village of Konoha, your graduation exams. These four Chuunin will call a name and take the student into a separate room. They will than test you on the specific classes you chose as well as some remedial skills. When you have finished your test you will than come back out here and sit down until everyone has finished their test. Those who passed will stay in here, while those who didn't pass will be taken to a separate room when both the leader of the police force and the leader of the samurai corps will be. You will then select which of the two you wish to enlist in for your career. Now, without further delay, let the testing begin." One by one the students were called. The first three of Naruto's group to go were Sai, Shino, and Chouji; they were followed by Shikamaru half way through; and finally came the last three of the group; Sachiko, Naruto, and Ino. Naruto's instructor was Iruka who greeted him with a smile.

"How are you feeling today Naruto?" He asked.

"I'm feeling excited. I'm ready to do this and become a shinobi." Naruto replied with a smile.

"I hope you do, remember our bet. If you become a shinobi I will take my Jounin test." Iruka picked up a stack of papers and the two walked into another room. In the room were two tables, one was blank while the other had a quill and an ink pot. "Please, sit at the table with the ink pot."" He did as instructed. "Now, the first thing I'm going to test you on will be your fuinjutsu skill. Now the test is creating a working seal. It can be a copy of a current seal, or a matrix of your own decision. No notes can help you though." Naruto nodded and picked up the quill. Holding out his right arm he started drawing seals on the left and right side of the forearm and used all the surfaces but the inside of his bicep. He used a shadow clone to write the seals on the triceps area of his arm. After fifteen minutes the seals were all drawn. He put his hand on a focal point at the shoulder area and pushed chakra into it. The bandages flashed before all the ink disappeared.

"What I did was add multiple new aspects to my bandages. I made them basically indestructible to physical damage and impervious to fire." Naruto said. He pulled out a kunai and stabbed down at his arm. Iruka went to stop him but halted his movement when the tip of the kunai broke off at contact with his arm. Satisfied with the performance Iruka wrote down some information on a paper.

"Good job Naruto." Iruka said as he unsealed a scroll from a paper in the stack. Opening the scroll he unsealed two wooden practice swords. Tossing one to Naruto they both took a battle stance. "Now, these swords have a special property in them. When you strike with them or get struck with it, the damaged area receives a flash of red paint. This test is passed if you land three strikes on me; it's failed if I land seven strikes on you. Begin on my signal." Iruka nodded at Naruto and the two rushed at eachother. Naruto ducked under a strike aimed for his head and slashed at Iruka's legs. The man jumped backwards and barely avoided it. The man rushed Naruto again only to receive a foot to his chest pushing him back. As Iruka was recovering from the strike Naruto slashed him across the arm. This was followed by a quick slash across his stomach. Naruto jumped backwards to avoid a retaliation slash that caught him across the chest. Still working on evasion he received another slash across his left leg and another that glanced off of the side of his head. Iruka kept pressing the attack and landed two more strikes before Naruto managed a glancing blow across Iruka's hip. "Good job Naruto, you passed this portion of the exam."

"Man, a full speed sword battle is a lot harder than those practice ones in class." Naruto replied. He handed the sword back to Iruka and he sealed them away.

"Now onto the Ninjutsu portion of the class. There were three jutsu that I am to test you on; a variation of the clone technique, a supplemental technique, and an elemental jutsu of your affinity. Since I already saw you perform the Kage Bunshin you pass the clone portion. Now, please take your position and do your supplemental technique. Naruto walked away from Iruka and took his place in the center of the room. He took a deep breath and started hand seals.

"Himitsu no ato: Enmaku-dan!" Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled. A ball of smoke erupted from his lips and hit a chair causing a large smokescreen. "Enmaku-dan, useful for creating a smokescreen in an area that isn't close proximity. Can be fired up to five meters before it loses its form."

"Very good." Iruka said writing it down on his sheet. "Now, this says your elemental affinity is wind. So please show me you're your best." With a nod Naruto started running through more hand seals.

"Fuuton: Kama Shotto!" A ball of air shot out of his mouth. It hit the same chair and the chair was shredded into multiple pieces. "The Kama Shotto is a C-rank offensive jutsu. It fires a ball of condensed air that upon impact turns into a dozen blades that shoots off in random directions." Iruka couldn't help but start clapping.

"Well done Naruto." Iruka told him writing on the paper. "As an instructor I must say that you are an exceptional student. As someone other than an instructor, I must say you're an amazing kid and will be an amazing ninja. Your graduation exam is over, and I am proud and honored to tell you that you have passed with flying colors." Naruto gave Iruka a beaming smile. "No get out there and tell all your friends the good news." Naruto quickly walked out of the room and to his friends.

"So I passed guys!" He cheered happily.

"Good job Naruto-kun." Sachiko said giving him a hug. "We all passed the test. I can't wait to find out who is on a team with eachother."

"Well, a good basis will be that Ino, myself, and Chouji will be on the same team to follow tradition. That leaves Kiba, Shino, Sachiko, Naruto, Sai, and Hinata." Shikamaru chimed in. "Given the remaining students who I know for a fact passed, it would make sense to form a reconnaissance team and a combat team. So that would leave Kiba, Shino, and Hinata as a team; with Naruto, Sai, and Sachiko as the other."

"What makes you think that is what Naruto's team would be?" Kiba asked not to pleased at the thought of having Hinata on his team.

"Look at their skills, Naruto is more of a close range to mid-range fighter due to his abilities with Ninjutsu and Kenjutsu, and also because of his massive stamina. Sachiko is more of a mid-range to long range fighter, thanks to her expertise of Ninjutsu and her taking an interest in medical skills. Sai, he is all long range with his ink jutsu. All of them have capabilities of being supports; Naruto with his fuinjutsu, Sachiko with her medical jutsu, and Sai with his Genjutsu. Thus allowing the other two to go on the attack." Shikamaru explained.

"While your explanation has merit; I would prefer to not be on a team with someone like Hyuuga-san." Shino said.

"Now guys, I know that none of us like the falling out between us and Hinata; but whatever team she ends up on, remember that she is a fellow ninja. We can't let personal feeling get in the way of that." Naruto said.

"Geeze Naruto, if only all of us could be as forgiving and understanding as you." Ino replied. "I guess as sixteen year olds we could try to be mature about it. But don't expect us to be nice to her outside of work." Naruto smiled at the girl.

"Thanks Ino-chan."

"Okay everyone, the exams are now over." Jingure announced from the front of the auditorium. "Would those who did not pass please follow Iruka-san to the next room, and those that did pass stay here." The group watched as a handful of students followed Iruka.

"Hey, wasn't that the Sakura girl we met a while ago?" Chouji asked.

"I believe so, and I thought she was so smart and going to be a great kunoichi." Sai said. "Well, that's at least how she acted." When the students who failed had left Jingure continued.

"Now, the remaining Chuunin will pass out the headbands to the remaining students while I read the lists of teams. As you know the new regulations stipulate that there will now be two teachers for each team. That's because more Jounin are taking more missions and ever since we have stepped up our training regulations there are more Jounin in active circulation." Jingure explained shuffling her papers. She read through the list, but no one paid attention until they got to their teams. "Aburame Shino, Uchiha Sachiko, and Uzumaki Naruto will form Team 7 under the combined tutelage of Buradokku Erizabesu and Hatake Kakashi." Shikamaru frowned as he was wrong in his assumption. Atisuto Sai, Inuzaka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata will form Team 8 under the combined tutelage of Samazu Arekkusu and Yuuhi Kurenai." Sai and Kiba high-fived eachother while Hinata sat in the back. There was another team before the final three. "Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino will form Team 10 under the combined tutelage of Puraido Kiti and Sarutobi Asuma." She placed the papers down and looked over the group. "I would like to congratulate you all on basing your graduation exam and becoming shinobi of Konoha. I know the will of fire will burn strong in you all and make us all proud. Please wait here for your teachers to come pick you up." As she left the room exploded into chatter.

"Ha, you were way off on that Shikamaru!" Kiba gloated at the boy.

"I was off on two members; and you're still the one on the team with Hinata." He replied. Kiba growled and dropped his head into his hands.

"Don't worry puppy, I will be there to help keep you sane." Sai said with a smile. The group laughed as Kiba playfully punched him in the arm. They kept up the chatter as one by one the teams were called out. A woman wearing a pair of black cargo pants and a tight, long-sleeved, purple shirt walked in. She had long purple hair pulled into a ponytail with and on her face was a red mark going down the left side over her eye.

"Team 7, follow me please." Naruto got up and was followed by Sachiko and Shino. They followed her for a couple of minutes before they arrived at the fountain outside of the academy. She signaled for them to take a seat and they did as instructed. "Okay everyone, my name is Erizabesu, but my codename is Sairokku. That is what you will call me when we are training together. I would normally ask you to introduce yourselves, but having been assigned you instructor I already know what you all are capable of from having read your finals. So I will just tell you about myself. I'm a kenjutsu and Ninjutsu expert with high level of martial arts experience. You have been selected for this team because your skill sets make you perfect for frontline battle or assassination mission, which happens to be what myself and our secondary instructor specialize in." Shino slowly raised a hand. "Yes Shino-san?"

"Why is Kakashi-sensei not here right now?" It was still strange to hear the buzzing in his voice at times.

"He is notorious for being late. So, when he tells you to be there at a certain time, you can be sure that if you wait three hours you will arrive right when he does." She told them. "Anyways, I would normally give you guys a test to ensure you are capable of working as a team, but I have seen you all train together and know you will work just fine with eachother. So tomorrow, I want you all to meet at training ground eleven at eight o clock tomorrow. I told Kakashi that we would meet at seven so he will arrive at ten to help us train. We will do some basic team training and then when Kakashi arrives we will do some specialized training. I know you all are C-rank mission qualified out of the academy, but we won't be taking any C-ranks until a week of training so that Kakashi and myself can see exactly what we are dealing with in a combat scenario. So have fun with the rest of your day off, as it's the last free time you will have ever again." The group nodded as she Shunshined out of the area.

"Well guys, this is the biggest step in our lives so far." Naruto said. "And I couldn't think of anyone better to take the step with than you two." Naruto put his hand out and Sachiko placed it on top followed by Shino's hand.

"Team 7 on three." Sachiko said. "One."

"Two." Naruto said.

"Three." Was the buzzing response.

"Team 7!" The three cheered.

And so begins the true journey.

A/N: Wow, I'm very excited to get this chapter done. I have been having ideas run rampant through my head as to their first mission all the way up until the Chuunin exams. So I hope you all will stick with me through this all, as I hope the story will get better! As usual, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. So I don't have to translate the name at the bottom, Team 7's other instructor is Psylocke, Team 8's is Havok, and Team 10's is Kitty Pride.

Translations:

Yaban hito Kuzuri- Savage Wolverine

Sugureta Ningen- Superior Beings

Kyoshi- Teacher

Himitsu no ato: Enmaku-dan- Secret Art: Smokescreen Bullet

Fuuton: Kama Shotto- Wind Style: Sickle Shot


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A/N: Welcome to Chapter Nine, where the action finally starts picking up. There will be some training and their first C-rank. It won't be the Wave Arc, I have my own plans for the Wave Arc. Well, read and enjoy!

Naruto stood up and stretched as he woke up. Running on auto-pilot he grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt out of his closet. He went through his regular morning routine and grimaced at what clothes he had picked out. "I don't know what even made me believe that an all orange outfit was a good idea." He said to himself as he tossed the orange jumpsuit into the clothes hamper. Quickly going back into his room he put on a pair of black cargo pants and a dark green short sleeved shirt. Activating the seals for his bandages and putting his gloves on, he walked out of his room and down stairs. Sachiko and Kuzuri already sat at the kitchen table and Ema was cooking in the kitchen. He sat down as she placed a plate of food in front of each person.

"You look tired Naruto." Kuzuri said after Naruto yawned. "You didn't stay up all night did you?" Naruto nodded at the man with a smirk. He held up his left arm and added enough chakra to make the seals visible.

"I had to add the same seals to this arm as my right arm." He smiled as the seals faded away. "I also added a couple more as an ace up the sleeve."

So, your first day of being a ninja. Are you guys ready?" Kuzuri asked taking a drink of his coffee.

"Yeah, we aren't doing much today but training though." Naruto replied. He took a couple bites and swallowed before continuing. "I feel like it's going to be more of the same as the academy."

"That's the wrong attitude to have there Naruto." Ema told him. "In the academy, it was just to get you prepared; now, everything you learn will be the difference between life and death." Naruto looked down and took a small bite.

"And anyways, they said we are just training so that Sairokku-sensei and Kakashi-sensei can see what missions we will be capable of." Sachiko told him with a smile. "We are starting our missions at the end of the week after all."

"I still don't like the fact that they are going to be having you all do C-ranks out of the academy." Ema said looking down. "I feel like you aren't ready for that."

"You have to remember though, we did all those D-rank missions in the last two years of the academy." Naruto replied. "Man, if I had to catch that cat Tora one more time." He trailed of as Sachiko nodded enthusiastically.

"It's best anyways, Ema." Kuzuri told her as he got up putting his plate in the sink. "I would rather them get some legitimate experience before they deal with any real ninja."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." She said with a slight pout. Naruto finished his food and placed his dishes in the sink as well.

"Well Sachiko-chan, we should get going now. It's 7:45 now and we have to be there by 8."

"Alright, I bet you Shino is already waiting for us at the gate." She said as she followed the blonde out of the house. They met up with the last member of the team and chatted as they walked towards their training ground. Arriving right at 8, Sairokku Shunshined into the clearing.

"Glad to see that you are all on time." She said looking over the group. "Where are your equipment pouches?" She asked with a frown. Naruto smiled as he stuck a hand in a pocket and pulled out a kunai, he did so to another and pulled out a shuriken. Replaced them and pulled some tags out of a third pocket.

"These shinobi pants have a lot of pockets, with the right application of seals, they become our pouches." He replied to the woman. "This way, we also can't lose our entire supply if we were in a battle."

"Do the rest of you have the same seals as well?" Sairokku asked looking at the other two. They nodded and she seemed to accept the answer. "Alright, that's actually a very smart idea. Most enemies wouldn't expect you to be keeping your weapons in your pockets. Okay, for the next hour we are going to go over two travel formations. For future references, our attack formations will be named after the alphabet; and our defensive formations will be numbered. The two formations we will go over will be the Zeta formation and formation 6."

"How will the formations help us Sairokku-sensei?" Sachiko asked.

"They will help, because you three are going to learn to synchronize your attacks our of each one. And our defensive formations are usually going to be the ones that we travel in. So you will also be learning the proper way to shift from the defensive formation to the attack formation. Each attack formation is paired with a defensive to ensure the smoothest transition possible." She told them. "Now, formation 6 is what we will start on." The team paid close attention as Sairokku instructed them. She placed a dummy on the ground and had them take position around it. Naruto stood in front of the dummy, Sachiko was slightly ahead and to the right of the dummy, and Shino was behind and to the left of the dummy. "Now, formation 6 is one of the most basic ones there is. Naruto has point, so he will be the one who will most likely encounter trouble first. Shino, your position is to protect the rear of the group. Where you're located will allow you to quickly move from left to right of the client. Sachiko, your position is perhaps the most important, you are the back up to either Naruto or Shino. If there is an ambush from the rear, left, or right of the group; than you are to assist Shino."

"What about Naruto at the point?" Sachiko asked.

"The ambush is the first thing that needs to be taken care of. The point man will be required to hold off whatever opponents until the situation at the rear is handled." She replied. "Now, if we were to say enter an area where we knew a battle would happen and there was going to be another force waiting for us, we would shift from 6, to Zeta. Now the attack formations are based on your skill sets. To shift to Zeta, Naruto moves to Sachiko's position, Shino would move to where he was slightly ahead and to the left of the client to where he was even with Naruto; and Sachiko, you would move to the direct rear of the client and provide support. Due to your medical knowledge and long rang fire techniques, you are in the perfect position to provide support to these two as they are attacking, while also keeping you close enough to the client incase an enemy breaks off and charges."

"That seems like it would be very effective." Shino replied.

"You three, I want you to practice moving from formation to formation for the next half-hour." Sairokku told them. They did as she instructed, and by the end of the half-hour they could do it decently enough. "I'm surprised you three are catching on so fast. Your transitions aren't as smooth, and you are usually positioned in the wrong place, but that is something that will get fixed the more we practice." She positioned them back in Zeta. "Now, if you were going to face a group of enemies as a team; what would your attacks be?"

"Well, I could start off the attack with a Enmaku-dan at the group of enemies. And while the smoke has their vision obscured, Shino could send his bugs in after them. After this point they will most likely go after their own targets at this point, but with Shino's bugs draining the chakra, they will be less dangerous in battle. We could than go after a designated target and have Sachiko guard the client." Naruto explained to her. "Then, say if Shino defeated his target first, he could either assist myself or go back and guard the client with Sachiko."

"Very good, did you come up with that on the spot?" She asked. Naruto nodded his head sheepishly.

"Who would have thought Naruto could come up with a good plan?" Sachiko joked.

"Sachiko, say our opponents are a group of three and two branch off after Naruto and one after Shino. What should the course of action be?"

"I believe the best course of action would be for myself to assist Naruto from my position with my long range techniques. I could also use my various tools to distract one long enough for Naruto to finish one before focusing on the other."

"Good plan, I'm pleasantly surprised at you're problem solving techniques. Now Naruto, what if after using the smokescreen, you launched an offensive technique as Shino was releasing his bugs on them?"

"I thought of that, but I decided against it when a possible consequence would end up in the destruction of his bugs. That would only hinder the plan instead of help. But a viable option would be to create a shadow clone and have it use a Kama Shotto directly after I release the smokescreen. That way the two jutsu would hit at essentially the same time and Shino's bugs wouldn't be in danger."

"Thank you for your consideration Naruto, but since my mutation, my bugs were changed as well as my body. They have become considerably stronger and much harder to be destroyed." Shino spoke up. Sairokku clapped her hands a couple times.

"Very good, you all are already thinking like shinobi." She made a couple of hand seals and three clones rose up out of the dirt. "These are three Tsuchi Bunshin. I have lowered their strength to that of genin. They will attempt to 'kill' our client there in the middle." She said pointing at the dummy. "Now, they are completely autonomous and their only order is to not kill you. They will wait until you launch your first attack before they move. Protect the client is the mission. Start on my signal." She raised her hand up in the air and the three kids and clones braced themselves. "3" Naruto made the hand seal for his clone technique. "2" Shino's bugs started swarming around him out of his sleeves. "1" Sachiko pulled out a kunai and a handful of shuriken. "Go!"

Naruto created three clones and didn't waste time running through another set of seals that two of his clones mimicked exactly. "Fuuton: Kama Shotto!" Following right behind the balls of wind was a strange black ball. "Enmaku-dan!" The smoke ball travelled a little faster and hit the ground in front of the earth clones. As it was spreading the three balls of wind ripped through the smoke followed by hundreds of Shino's bugs. They heard a yelp from the smoke before two clones jumped out of the dissipating smoke. Naruto saw out of the corner of his eye the last clone falling to pieces of earth. That was the only chance he had to look before the clone was upon him.

-Naruto-

Naruto ducked a kick that was aimed for his head and drove a fist into the inner thigh of the clone. He lashed out with a kick to the clones chest pushing it backwards. He activated a seal on the top of his forearm and he pulled out a basic katana. He didn't give the clone a chance to breath before rushing it. Holding it in one hand he swung at the left side of the clone. It blocked the strike with a kunai only for Naruto to slap a tag on its shoulder. The clone jumped away as its right arm crumbled into dirt. Looking confused at where its arm should be, it never saw the sword separate its head from its body. Sairokku nodded in approval as Naruto resealed his sword and ran over to help Shino.

-Shino-

The boy jumped backwards as kunai peppered the floor where he was standing. The clone was quickly inside his comfort zone pushing the offensive. Shino checked a kick at his leg with his shin and drove his fist into the clones chin. He followed the strike by kicking its legs out and than driving an elbow into its stomach. He jumped away and took a defensive stance as the clone stood up. He frowned as the clone pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag and threw it at his feet. Throwing his jacket off his wings came to life and lifted him into the air, easily out of range of the explosion. He sent more of his bugs and they quickly latched onto the clone draining it of more chakra. Its skin started losing its color becoming the color of dirt and it started cracking. Looking up at Shino, it didn't see Naruto kick it in the back of the knees and then the middle of the back sending it into the air towards Shino. He pulled out an explosive tag and dove down at the clone. He slapped it in the middle of the clones test than grabbed it by the shirt. He spun and sent it flying even higher where the tag exploded sending a shower of dirt onto the two boys. They nodded at each other before quickly going back to Sachiko.

"Okay you two, let's get back into formation 6." Naruto told them. They quickly moved back into a defensive mode and waited for Sairokku to speak. She smiled at the team and started clapping. She stopped but the clapping continued from behind them. The team turned around and saw Kakashi standing there.

"Very impressive display for rookies." He said with his patented eye smile.

"Nice of you to join us Kakashi." Sairokku told him. "I didn't realize it was already ten."

"Time flies when you are teaching I suppose." He replied. He held up two bags. "Now, who is ready for a little bit of lunch?" The group sat together as they ate their food.

"So, what is the plan for after lunch?" Sachiko asked.

"Now, we are going to do some specialized training." Kakashi told them. He took a bite of his sandwich, confusing them as to how he did so with his mask still on. "Sachiko will go with me where we will work on learning a jutsu or two as well as adding some other useful techniques. Shino will go with me as well where we will work on learning some deception, taijutsu, and perhaps a jutsu."

"What about Naruto-kun?" She asked him.

"He will go with me." Sairokku replied. "He is going to be learning kenjutsu. And at the end of our training, we are going to take you all to the weapons shop where we will find all of you a weapon that suits you. Every day this week we will do the team training in the morning. Tomorrow we will switch who we train and keep switching throughout the week." She picked up her trash and placed it in a trash bag. "Now, I say we get to training. We will stop training at one, where we will then go sit down for a proper meal."

"Alright, well, come with me you two." Kakashi said as he walked towards the other side of the clearing. Sachiko and Shino followed him leaving Naruto alone with Sairokku.

"Alright Naruto, the only thing I'm going to teach you today is the basic kata to a style known as the Dance of the Leopard; it's a style that I think will fit you. It relies on fast, consecutive attacks with there being two katas that focus on overpowering the foe." Sairokku said as she unsealed a katana from a storage scroll and took a stance. "Copy my movements exactly." Naruto took up his katana and copied her stance. "You will hold each stance and I will correct you." Naruto nodded as Sairokku walked up to him and fixed his stance. She had him keep entering the stance and continued fixing it until he got the stance down. She than taught him the next stance and followed the same process. Keeping it up until she went through every individual stance. "Alright, now that you have each one down, we are going to work on going through them together. Start from the first stance and I'll stop you when you make a mistake." Naruto did so and she quickly stopped him on the second one. "Your feet are too far apart and your left shoulder is to forward. Now start from the beginning again." They continued this process and Naruto could do the first quarter of the kata only making one of two mistakes by the time it was one. "Alright Naruto, that's enough for today." Naruto put his sword down and wiped some sweat off of his brow. "When we train together again on Thursday, we will pick up where you left off." Naruto nodded and sealed his sword away as Kakashi led two tired looking teens back to them.

"Learning jutsu was that tough on you guys?" Naruto asked with a tired smirk.

"Please, we were doing chakra control exercises pretty much the whole time." Sachiko replied. "Kakashi-sensei finally started us on a jutsu the last hour or so."

"So what jutsu are you learning?"

"I'm learning the Katon: Hono no Shawa." Sachiko said. "But I found out that I'm a fire and lightning user."

"I have two chakras as well; water and earth." Shino told him. "As such, Kakashi-sensei has started me on an earth jutsu, the Doton: Kyoretsuna Ken."

"Yes, but you two are far from completing them." Kakashi said causing Sachiko to frown and Shino to slump his shoulders slightly. "On a positive not though, we can all go get some lunch now." Kakashi gave the group his eye smile.

"We could do that." Sairokku said. "But, we have one place to stop before we get lunch. Let's go team." The two jounin chatted as they led the group out of the clearing and into the village. The three genin stopped talking as they arrived at a weapons shop, the Omoi Hanma. "Alright you three, this weapons shop is regarded as one of the best in the world. The man inside will help find the weapon that best suits you three." They walked into the shop and a gruff man looked up from behind the counter.

"Ah Sairokku-san, Kakashi-san; how may I assist you?" He asked. Kakashi gave the man his eye smile and patted Naruto on the shoulder.

"We are here to get our cute, little genin squad some….special weapons." Kakashi replied. The man smiled at them and pulled a small box out from a drawer. He opened it and pulled out three small cards and handed one to each genin.

"Alright you three, this concept is pretty easy. Just like chakra paper, you add chakra to the card. The only difference is that instead of crumbling or burning, a number will appear in the middle. That number corresponds with the same number on my specialty items."

"How will that pick out the weapon that's best for us?" Sachiko asked. "Chakra only tells us our elemental nature."

"That's where your incorrect miss." He replied. "Your chakra is the only thing that knows your body better than yourself. It knows how you move, your muscle strength, everything." He gleefully explained. "Follow me." The group followed the man through a curtain into a back room and the teenagers jaws dropped. The room they walked into had hundreds of different weapons. There were the traditional weapons such as katanas, daggers, sai, and kusarigama; there were more interesting weapons like warhammers, axes, gauntlets, and crossbows. Those barely scratched the surface of what was in the room. "Now, Aburame-san, please go first." Shino did as told and a large 463 appeared in the middle. The man quickly moved around the room before he found the weapon. "Ah, you got yourself a nice pair of weapons here." He came back with a three foot long box. He opened it up and there were two blades as long as the box. Each blade sat in a metal bracing with leather straps on it. "These metal brackets clamp around your forearms, and with the slight addition of chakra they retract into the bracket. There is a seal in there that stores the blade in it." Shino attached the brackets and repeated the motion of retracting and releasing the blade.

"Strange, a close range weapon was not what someone from my clan would normally select." Shino said as he moved his arms around. "And yet, this feels right."

"My cards know what's best boy-o." The shop keeper said with a grin. He looked at Sachiko and gestured towards her. "Your turn." Sachiko's number was 38. "I remember 38!" He said giddily. He opened up a chest and pulled out a two foot long piece of metal with a six inch spike at each end."This is one hell of a weapon. I was wondering when someone would pull this one." He flashed his chakra and an eighteen inch long rod shot from both ends. Hook like barbs sprouted from each rod creating a menacing looking staff. "I call this the hook-spear for clear reasons. You can use your chakra to activate only one side if you wish." He said with a chuckle. Flashing his chakra again the rods retracted forming the smaller tube again. Sachiko took it from the man gingerly before activating it a couple times. "A good mid-range weapon with the same kind of seals that your friends weapon has. There is also a seal that allows you to use chakra to propel it at blinding speeds as a projectile weapon."

"Perfect for a support ninja, don't you think?" Sairokku chimed in.

"Of course." Kakashi added. "Our little Sachiko-chan will be a menace with that weapon."

"Yes, but now for the last one." Sairokku replied as they looked at Naruto. He took a deep breath and pushed chakra into the card. A second later a 1 appeared on it.

"I think I remember what this one is." He said as he opened a large cabinet. He pulled a long, bundled object out of it. "This is the first weapon I crafted using my special techniques." He handed it to Naruto who carefully started to unwrap it. His jaw dropped as he gripped the unveiled weapon by the handle. It was a sword that had a forty-two inch long blade and a twelve inch handle. The blade was three inches wide at the base and pure black on a grey and red handle. Looking closely at the blade, Naruto could see all kinds of designs carved into it before it finally dawned on him.

"These are all seals aren't they?" Naruto asked the man.

The man clapped his hands together. "You would be correct in that assumption. Most are just basic strengthening, sharpening, and chakra channeling seals; but they are a couple in there that I will leave a surprise. I'm glad that you three found weapons, but we have another thing to take care of. That would be the financial aspect of it."

"Sairokku and myself will be splitting the cost." Kakashi said as he pulled out his wallet.

"Okay, let's go to the front and ring this up." He replied.

"Surely this equipment is very expensive. I can't let you pay for this." Shino said as they followed the man into the area of the store.

"It's nothing major." Sairokku replied. "You can pay us back by becoming some of the best shinobi to ever guard the village."

"And more chuunin coming from you three and not the other teams." Kakashi muttered.

"What was that Kakashi-sensei?" Sachiko asked. Sairokku elbowed the man in the side roughly.

"Ah nothing, I was simply agreeing with what my teaching partner here had said." The two teachers paid for the weapons and the teenagers sealed them away into scrolls while Shino just retracted his blades.

-(The Next Day, Training)-

"Alright Naruto, tell me what jutsu you know?" Kakashi asked the teenager sitting across from him.

"Well, I know all the academy jutsu, the Kage Bunshin, and the Fuuton: Hasai-ken." He replied. Kakashi just shook his head at the boy.

"I know about your special ability Naruto." Kakashi said pointing at Naruto's bandages. "Now I'll restate my question, what jutsu do you know?" Now understanding what his teacher meant Naruto took a breath.

"I didn't learn much from him, he was seriously lacking as a Chuunin even with the Hokage's new standards. But the few I learnt are all C-rank. I learned the Fūton: Daitoppa, Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu, and the Kori Shinchū no Jutsu. The only others ones he knew were the ones that I learned in the academy."

"What would you say your comfort level with those three techniques are?" Was Kakashi's next question.

"It would be probably at a four out of ten." Naruto replied. "My dad wouldn't let me practice any of them until I got put onto a genin squad. The only reason the comfort level is at a four and not lower is because of what I understand from Mizuki's memories." Kakashi stood up and brushed some dirt off of his pants.

"Alright, today we will work on those techniques than." Naruto stood up also. "I will hold off on teaching you anything until I deem your skill level with them is adequate. We will start with the Fūton: Daitoppa." Kakashi created an earth clone and had it stand in front of Naruto. Naruto quickly went through hand seals.

" Fūton: Daitoppa!" He swung his arms forward and a gust of wind shot out. It hit the clone but only managed to ruffle its clothes. "Man, I was expecting that to do more."

"Well, there were a couple things I noticed. You didn't have a smooth transition between the dog and rabbit seals. You also didn't use enough chakra or control." Kakashi put his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "So while you maintain a basic concept of how to do the technique, you still need practice in order to master it. Kind of like a watered down Sharingan effect."

"What does all that mean?"

"Ah sorry, it just means that even if you learn how to do a technique through your power, you will still need to practice with it to be able to use it the way it's meant." Kakashi told the boy. "So we will keep working on the Fūton technique before moving on. This time when you do it, go slowly with the hand seals." Naruto nodded before getting to work. By the time one o clock rolled around Kakashi came to a realization, "You suck at genjutsu." Naruto panted and wiped some sweat from his brow. He quickly got a hang of the first two jutsu with Kakashi telling him that the only way for him to get better is use them in action, but the last one he has been working on for the last hour and a half with no progress. Kakashi even made his clone easily susceptible to the effects of genjutsu. "I guess you will get better with practice. At least I know what we will be working on next time we train together." Kakashi said with his eye smile. "Let's go meet up with the others for some lunch." As the duo arrived where the others were a ragged Sachiko smirked at the tired Naruto.

"Learning jutsu was that tough on you?" She asked. Her response was a prompt middle finger that was answered with a smack to the back of the head from Kakashi.

"Manners Naruto." The group chuckled at the expense of the blonde as he rubbed the back of his head.

-(Two Weeks Later)-

The groups training progressed along the same path as the first two days with the occasional D-rank mixed in there just for a little income. After the first two weeks were over Naruto was deemed a lost cause with genjutsu; so Kakashi started teaching him other jutsu. He know knew the Fūton: Reppūshō and the Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu. Kakashi and Sairokku appeared in the clearing at the same time and the three genin quickly stood at attention. "Alright you three, after careful consideration in regards to your training and the level we think you are at now, Kakashi and myself have decided that it is time for your first C-rank mission." The three teenagers started congratulating each other. "I myself have been issues a B-rank mission and will be gone for two weeks time. Kakashi will take over fulltime duties in my absence." Sairokku told them.

"Right, my turn to talk." Kakashi said as he pulled out a scroll and opened it up. "Two merchants arrived in the village early yesterday morning. They brought unfortunate news of being attacked by a group of bandits when they were a two days walk from the village. They were able to slip away due to the bandits being distracted with murdering their associates and stealing their wares. Our team has been tasked with locating the bandit encampment and evaluating the group of thieves. If in our evaluation it is decided we are capable of dispatching them and recovering the merchants wares, we are to proceed along that course of action. If not, we return to the village with our report and the appropriate team will be then dispatched in our stead." Kakashi rolled up the scroll and put it in a pocket. "Man, I still can't get over how boring those mission reports sound." He looked over the group. "Alright everyone, go back to your homes and gather up supplies for a four days absence from the village. Meet me at the north gate in an hour." With his message conveyed, Kakashi disappeared from the clearing leaving Sairokku alone with the genin.

"Well you three, I'm a little sad I don't get to attend your first C-rank mission with you." She told them.

"Don't you worry Sairokku-sensei; we are going to finish his mission and make you proud." Naruto said to his teacher.

"I have no doubt about that Naruto." Sairokku turned around to leave the area. "You better hurry up and get ready. I know Ema is going to throw a fit about you leaving on a mission. Don't forget anything kids." With that said Sairokku disappeared from the area along with the three genin. Naruto and Sachiko arrived back at their house a couple minutes later and walked quickly inside. Ema walked out of the kitchen and looked at the two confused.

"What is going on you two? Don't you have training today?" She asked them. Sachiko kept walking upstairs and left Naruto to talk.

"We got our first C-rank today." He replied. Ema frowned. "It's nothing serious mom. We are just going to scout out a group of bandits that attacked some merchants."

"I don't think that you're ready Naruto." She told him. "You have only been a registered shinobi for about a month now. You need more time to get stronger." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Mom, I have been training non-stop since I was twelve, the academy extended their graduation age to sixteen, and I have been trained by two of the top jounin in the village for the past month. Those things, plus the bastard sealed inside of me, will be more than enough for a couple of bandits." Naruto slowly started going up the stairs. "I have to go get my stuff ready now. I can't be late." Tears appeared in Ema's eyes as Naruto disappeared at the top of the stairs. Kuzuri walked in through the back door and stopped when he saw her.

"What's wrong?" He asked with a frown.

"I'm not ready for him to go on a C-rank mission." She said throwing her arms around the man. "It seems like just yesterday he came into the hospital with those horrific injuries." Kuzuri hugged the woman and rubbed her back gently.

"It will be okay Ema. Naruto is a strong boy and has had some of the best training in the world." Naruto and Sachiko came down the stairs putting scrolls in their pockets. "So you two are off on your first big mission?" The excited teenagers nodded their heads. "You all be careful now. You both are very important to Ema and myself; make sure to keep your eyes open. And always remember, no mission is worth completing at the expense of your squad mates." The two nodded and went to walk out the door but were stopped as Ema hugged the both of them. "Come on babe, you're acting like you will never see them again." Kuzuri said pulling the woman back. "We will see you two in a couple days."

"Bye Ema-san, Kuzuri-san." Sachiko said as she jogged out the open front door.

"I will see you in a couple days." Naruto said with a smile. "Love you both." With that said Naruto followed after his friend.

"Like I said, he is a tough kid." Kuzuri told Ema as they stood on the front porch watching the two leave. "He has Kakashi on his squad, what's the worst that can happen?"

-(Three Days Later)-

Naruto groaned as he hung upside down from a rope in a tree. He opened his eyes and saw a group of twenty men sitting around various campfires. "Well that didn't work out quite how I had planned." He said to himself. He looked himself over and saw his sleeves were still intact and the seals in his pockets hadn't been damaged. "Alright, still fully armed here." He then looked up and took in the entire clearing he was in. The men were sitting in groups of four to five surrounded by the same number of tents. There was about three meters between each group and they were in a rough square around a larger tent. He closed his eyes and checked for chakra signatures to see if there were any hidden enemies around. There were four people stationed ten meters out from the camp and three more in the center tent with one being larger than the others.

"Arbiter to Jester, Arbiter to Jester, you copy?" Came a masculine voice in his ear.

"This is Jester, I copy." Naruto whispered. "How these guys didn't find the ear piece is beyond me; they must have bought the story I gave them about being out on a camping trip. What's the status on Ghost and Angel?"

"Ghost is on the sentry to the north and Angel is on the one to the south. What's the status on the camp?"

"Twenty-two civilian class chakra signatures and one that is stronger, not quite at a shinobi level." Naruto whispered back. "North group contains four men, west has five, south has six, and east has five; the tent in the center contains two more plus the larger one."

"Copy that Jester. On your word Ghost and Angel will take out the sentries quickly and quietly. Any recommendations?"

"Ten-four Arbiter, relay to Ghost and Angel to place a grade three explosive tag at each of the sentries positions. Once all four have been placed proceed to detonation. I will cut myself down in the confusion and head for south camp." He replied. "Rules of engagement?"

"Use your judgment Jester." Arbiter said. "Fatalities will result in zero repercussions. All enemies must be accounted for at the end of battle."

"Relay message to Ghost and Angel to proceed. I'm ready to rock and roll." Naruto heard silence but knew the plan was moving based on the sentry chakra signatures dimming. When the last two went down Naruto slid his hand into a pocket and unsealed a kunai. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the group located directly to his left. Thirty seconds passed before the forest erupted in flames. As the bandits started scrambling Naruto quickly sliced himself free of the ropes. His feet barely hit the ground as he started moving. While heading to his group he saw two figures shoot through the forest into a group of confused men. The first man Naruto met stood no chance as a knee slammed into his nose at full speed. As the bandit fell to the ground unconscious Naruto whipped his hand forward and flung the kunai into the forehead of a crossbow wielding bandit. Naruto landed into a roll and swept out a third bandits legs out from under him. He drove an elbow into the man's temple sending him into a dreamless sleep before he needed to block a punch aimed for his own head. He shoved the man's hand away and landed a punch to his sternum. The bandit's pained gasps for air were silence when Naruto chopped his neck. Turning to face the final three bandits he saw that they were no longer confused and were rushing him with weapons drawn. Acting quickly, Naruto drew a handful of kunai out and threw them following up with handseals. "Fūton: Reppūshō!" He sent a gust of wind that propelled the kunai at blinding speed. Two bandits had enough sense to dive out of the way; the third wasn't so lucky with each kunai sinking into his body down to the ring. A spear wielding bandits rise was halted by a chakra enhanced uppercut that shattered his jaw. The final bandit looked at Naruto fearfully holding a sword. With a yell he dropped the sword and turned to run only to be clotheslined by a silver haired figure.

"Good work Jester, move to take the leader in the center tent. The north group has already been dispatched by myself." Naruto's response died in his throat as a giant pillar of fire shot into the sky from the west. No words were spoken as the two Shunshined away from the area.

-(Minutes Prior, Shino)-

"Ghost to Arbiter, second tag has been placed." Shino said as he retracted a bloody wrist blade.

"Copy that. Confirmation from Angel, initiate detonation for thirty seconds and get out of blast range." Shino lit the chakra fuse and quickly moved away. Thirty seconds slowly went by before the tags detonated. Chunks of wood went shooting into the air with the explosion and Shino was moving through the debris and unleashing his wrist blades and Kikaichū. He leapt over a tent and landed on a bandits shoulders sinking his blades through his back. There were shouts of confusion through the group as the Kikaichū latched onto two of the other bandits. He swung his arm to the right and watched as a bandits head flew through the air. He heard two thumps from behind him and felt his Kikaichū return to his body. The last bandit gripped a large sword and scowled at the boy.

"I'm not a pushover like the rest of these punks." He said. He lunged forward at Shino swinging the giant sword around. Shino smirked under his high collar as he let the sword connect with his side where it harmlessly bounced aside. "Wha-" The man's words were cut off as Shino slammed a haymaker to the left side of his jaw sending him stumbling in that direction. "So, you use knuckle dusters in battle?" He asked glancing at Shino's balled up first and noting the hard brown material.

"Something like that." Shino replied. The bandit looked at his sword and scowled as he saw there was a chip in the blade. He rushed the boy again and swung his sword multiple times, each one bounced off Shino's midsection with the ones aimed for his head being dodged. With a frustrated yell the man tried stabbing Shino through the chest only for the battered blade to shatter upon impact. Shino frowned as the coat he was wearing was completely ruined from the blade and removed it. The bandit looked confused at the handle that remained in his hand before he looked at Shino and his eyes widened in fear. "Something bugging you?" Shino asked allowing buzzing to enter his voice. The man staggered backwards as Shino moved his exposed wings a couple times.

"What the hell are you?" The bandit hurried and picked up his fallen comrades spear and waved it at him. "Stay away from me! You're not human." He shouted. Shino's wings started beating at a blinding speed and he rose from the ground.

"That's where you're wrong, I'm simply the next stage." Shino bolted towards the man. The bandit thrust forward with the spear only for the shaft to shatter into splinters on contact with the hardened substance covering Shino's body. His screams of fear died in his throat as Shino extended a wrist blade and drove it through the mans chin into his brain at an upward angle. His lifeless body fell to the ground as Shino withdrew the blade. Shino's eyes snapped to the center tent as a pillar of fire shot into the sky.

"Arbiter to Ghost, report to center point to rendezvous with squad and support."

"Copy that Arbiter." With that said, Shino rose into the air and flew off towards the area.

-(Minutes Prior, Sachiko)-

Sachiko struck like a snake after the explosion. The closest bandit had his back to her and his payment was getting the tendons in his knees cut out from behind. He collapsed to the ground screaming only to be silence by a swift heel kick to the temple. Swiftly running through hand seals the next bandit wasn't given a chance. "Katon: Kasai Sutoraiku!" His eyes widened as a fist covered in fire slammed into his eye. Sachiko cringed a little as she heard a crunching noise; ignoring this she kicked the burning body in the chest away from her. A hand forcibly grabbed her arm and yanked her backwards. She twisted into the air and wrapped her legs around the neck of the hands owner. She followed that up by raining elbows down onto the man's head and face causing him to quickly submit to unconsciousness. She twisted around to the man's back and kicked off of it into the air. She pulled a handful of kunai from her pocket and let them loose towards the remaining two bandits causing them to run from each other.

"Bitch!" A voice to her left shouted as she landed. Leaping up from a crouch using chakra she drove her knee into the mans chin before spinning in the air and landing a roundhouse kick to his neck breaking it in the process. Unsealing her staff she extended each point stabbing the last bandit in the thigh sending him down onto a knee. Ripping the point out she stabbed him through the hand pinning it to the ground. The man screamed out in pain as she pulled out pole and cracked him across the skull with it. Sachiko was about to seal her weapon away when she felt three fluctuations of chakra. Turning around and facing the tent she saw three people standing there, two men and one woman, with their arms crossed.

"So, you and your friends thought that you could just walk right into our camp and get rid of us?" The one in the middle, and also the largest, said. He stood at around six foot-five inches and was a mound of muscle. He had a katana resting on his shoulder. "What should we do about these guys Kabal?" The man next to him, wearing a strange mask, put a hand under his chin.

"I say we just eliminate them Jang." He scratched the back of his neck with a menacing hook sword he pulled from his long trench coat. "I say we let Yaku take this one." The woman next to them was halfway through handseals before he finished the sentence.

"Way ahead of you Kabal." She finished and separated her hands showing a ball of fire sitting in between them. " Katon: Honō no hashira!" She thrust her hands forward and the ball turned into a giant beam of fire that came shooting at Sachiko. The girl dove to the side out of the way of the beam only for it to twist around and come back at her. Sachiko looked in fear as the flames got closer and never noticed her eyes changing. They turned solid black with two red tomoe in each eye. She instinctively put her hands out in front of her and the beam stopped inches away from her. She threw her hand up and the beam followed, rising up high above everyone and exploding once it reached a fair distance in the air. "What the hell was that? I have never seen fire manipulation strong enough to control another persons attack." Before she could start hand seals on another attack Naruto and Kakashi appeared next to Sachiko and Shino landed next to them.

"Well look what we have here, more cockroaches." Jang said as he placed the tip of his sword in the dirt. Naruto helped Sachiko up and his jaw dropped.

"Sachiko-chan, you're eyes, they have change." He told her. "Is that the Sharingan?" Was his next question.

"It appears to be a variation of it." Kakashi replied. He looked at the three ninja in front of the team. "We will talk about it later. Right now, we have to deal with these three." Sachiko shook her head and stood up straight.

"Let us handle them sensei." Shino said.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah we got this handled." Naruto replied taking up position across from Jang and unsealing his own sword. "Of course, you can feel free to bail us out if things look bad." He looked his sensei in the eye as Sachiko and Shino set up across from Yaku and Kabal respectively. "We need this to test how well your training has paid off."

"I'm gonna kick this bitchs ass." Sachiko growled out from next to Naruto. "I feel….so much stronger."

"I to wish to test myself against a fellow ninja." Shino told the man. Kakashi smiled under his mask.

"Alright, don't mangle the bodies to much; we need the heads to turn in bounties if they are missing-nin." He replied taking a step back.

"You should be more worried about your dear students bodies getting mangled." Jang growled out. "I don't appreciate being underestimated." Kabal and Yaku nodded their heads in agreement.

"Oh we aren't underestimating you three." Naruto told the man. "We fully respect your skill; ours is just better." Naruto blurred out of view and sent the man flying backwards with a front kick to the chest. "I'll handle the boss." With that said Naruto disappeared after the man leaving the other four in the area. Shino rose into the air and flew away from the other three.

"Oh no you don't bug boy." Kabal shouted running after him. Sachiko help out a hand towards Yaku.

"What are you good at barbie?" She asked. She looked confused as the remaining flames from her attack rose into the air and gathered around Sachiko's hand.

"I told you, I feel stronger." Sachiko threw the fire at the girl. This time it was Yaku's turn to dive to the side and have the fire chase after her. Sachiko held another hand out and separated the fire into two different streams that grew larger as they used the air as fuel. Yaku was now dodging two large streams of fire being attacked from separate sides. She leapt backwards away from one only to have another collide with her back. As she was replaced with a log she was immediately sent running again due to the first stream attacking her again. "I can see every move you are going to make." Yaku looked in fear as she was pressed against a tree with the two flame streams staring her down. The womans screams were drowned out by the sound of the tree she was against going up in flames. Kakashi landed next to Sachiko and let out a long whistle.

"Oh boy, that's a scary combination." He said out loud.

"What do you mean?" Sachiko asked him.

"Not only do you have the Sharingan, but you have the ability to completely manipulate flames." He replied. She looked at him confused. "Congratulations! Just like Naruto and Shino, you're a mutant!" He said with his eye smile. His response was a prompt thud as Sachiko fainted. "I really need to work on my delivery of news." He picked up his unconscious student and disappeared in the direction Shino went.

-(Shino)-

Shino banked to the right dodging the kunai aimed at himself. He finally landed in a clearing and had to release his blades to block the two hook blades aimed at his face. Forced into a kneeling position Shino pushed the blades out of his way and grabbed Kabal around the waist. He flew into the air driving him through thick branches before pushing him off and kicking him into the trunk of a tree. Kabal was given no chance to regain his bearings as he was forced to dodge Shino's blade causing it to sink into the tree trunk. Shino release the clasp around his forearm as he was unable to get the blade out of the tree. Thinking he had the advantage with weapons, Kabal pressed his attack. Kabal hooked Shino's second blade and tore it from his forearm dragging the hook across Shino's arm. "Ah, so you have some kind of natural armor. It probably protects pretty good from regular attacks." Kabal's hook swords started glowing a bright blue. "Let's see how it holds up against chakra enhanced attacks. Shino leapt backwards avoiding a cross swipe but was unable to completely avoid a downward swipe. He grunted in pain as the chakra enhanced blade cut through his armor and dark green blood started seeping out. "Ah, so the creature does bleed!" Instead of wasting his time responding, Shino unleashed his hive on the man and disappeared into the trees. Kabal laughed as the bugs landed on his body and started trying to work. "I know all about you Aburames'. Too bad your pets won't work on me; these clothes prevent chakra from leaving my body unless I allow it." His only response was silence, seconds later the bugs rose from his body and started disappearing into different parts of the forest. "Smart, not having them all go straight to you. That would give your position away after all."

"Doton: Gōremu no ken!" A giant stone fist rose up from behind Kabal and sent him flying across the clearing into a tree. As Kabal impacted the ground he rolled out of the way as the hand came smashing down on the area he just occupied. It quickly backhanded him as he was standing up to send him flying again. He got up and surveyed the area and noticed the hand was gone.

"Come on, enough with the cowards tactics." Kabal shouted. He started going through handseals. "Fight me like a man! Raiton: Sonāsupāku!" Electricity shot out in a ball around him into the forest. A couple second later Kabal spoke. "Nothing? My sonar never fails…unless he is-" His question was answered as hands rose out of the dirt and pulled him down to his neck. "Fuck!" He shouted as Shino rose out of the ground in front of him.

"Shinobi use deception to win their battles." Kabal's eyes widened under his mask as he saw Shino had retrieved his wrist blades. "You should be happy I am running low on chakra, I had one other technique I wished to get practice using. Don't worry though," Shino said squatting down in front of the man placing the blades across eachother in a diagonal pattern around Kabals neck. "your death shall be quick." Kabal's response never came as Shino closed the blades cutting his head off. Kakashi arrived with Sachiko over his shoulder as Shino picked up the mans head.

"Everything went good over here?" He asked. Shino held out the head and handed it to Kakashi who held it gingerly by the hair.

"I need training to increase my chakra reserves." Was his response as Shino flew in the direction of Naruto's fight.

"Kids these days." Kakashi said as he followed the boy.

-(During Shino's fight, Naruto)-

Naruto's advance was halted as a hand grabbed his shirt collar and sent him rocketing into a tree. Naruto slowly picked himself up and saw an angry Jang holding a sword. "That wasn't a very nice greeting."

"Says the little shit that put a foot in my chest." Naruto smirked as he saw a large bruise developing in the middle of the man's chest.

"I didn't realize you would be so sensitive." Naruto gripped his sword in two hands. "Just doing my job after all." Naruto was forced to duck under Jang's sword as it passed through the area his head just was. Naruto slashed upwards with his own sword only for Jang to side step it. The two lunged at each other and their swords clashed in the middle.

"Look at you, trying to play ninja." Jang scowled at the boy. "I bet your precious little hands have never taken a life." Naruto's eyes hardened at the man and his grip tightened on his sword and seals started to glow blue on the blade as Naruto started channeling his chakra.

"These precious little hands of mine did a fine job on your group of friends." Naruto replied. He swiftly and firmly planted his foot into the side of Jang's knee sending the man stumbling away. Naruto quickly flipped away from the man and landed with his sword held behind him. He swung forward as a word clicked into his head. "Ken no sutairu: Sonikkusurasshu!" An invisible force exploded from the tip of his sword and went shooting towards Jang accompanied by a loud screeching. Jang crossed his arms in front of himself as the force hit him like a freight train sending him bouncing across the ground. His descent on the last bounce was halted as Naruto appeared next to him and kicked him across the ribs sending him into the air. He created two Kage Bunshin that grabbed his arms and threw him in the air after the man. He kept creating Kage Bunshin and used them as platforms to send him higher. He used the last clone to push up and use a Shunshine. He appeared above Jang with his sword raised above his head with the seals glowing again. "Ken no Sutairu: Sonikkusurasshu!" Jang's ascent was abruptly turned into a decent when the forced hammered into him sending up a large dust cloud when he impacted with the ground. Naruto's smile turned into panic when he started falling towards the ground. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" He shouted as he fell. His shirt was grabbed as he passed a tree and he looked with relief as Kakashi had a hold of it. "Thanks Kakashi-sensei." The man eye smiled before letting go letting Naruto fall the last eight feet to the ground.

"Watch that language of yours." He said to the boy. Naruto slowly got up and stumbled over to the groaning mass that was Jang.

"Bastard sensei of mine." He mumbled to himself. He poked the man with his foot and elicited a loud groan from him. "Where's all that smack you were talking big man?" Naruto growled out. Kakashi appeared next to him and smack him across the back of the head.

"There's no glory in talking down to an opponent; especially one you have already defeated." He sternly told the boy. "Go stand with Shino and Sachiko." Naruto looked down and turned around quickly walking away to his friends. Kakashi squatted down and looked at the man. "Hello Jang, former shinobi of Kusagakure. Murderer of hundreds of civilians and ten genin. How have you avoided capture for so long? You yourself are only Chuunin level."

"Fuck you." The man spit out. "I'm not sayin shit. I would rather die than give up my boss." Kakashi's response was him pulling up his headband and opening his Sharingan eye.

"You're going to do both today." Kakashi said. Jang's eyes went blank and he slumped over unconscious. "Naruto, get over here." The blonde jogged over with his two friends, which included a now recovered Sachiko.

"Yes sensei?" He asked.

"We need information from this man." Naruto looked confusedly at his teacher. "Remove your right glove." Naruto now understood and frowned at the man.

"I can't do that; I'll kill him. And I don't want all his memories floating around my head or picking up anything from is personality." Naruto replied.

"The Hokage gave me a secret objective. That if there was an opportunity to interrogate a suspect for information, that you are to do it with your ability. It will be to train your ability and your control of it." Kakashi said pulling his headband down over his eye.

"I can't control this power. I can't just turn it off or on." Naruto said loudly.

"No, but you can control how much you absorb." Kakashi told him. "With Mizuki it took a minute of prolonged contact before he died. The Hokage wants you to learn how to use this power to your advantage." Naruto frowned and looked at his hand as he took the glove off and approached the unconscious man. "Once you find out who he is answering to you can stop." Naruto took a deep breath and place his hand on the mans forehead and was instantly bombarded with memories. It took Naruto a couple seconds to get a grip on what was coming into his brain. Tactics, techniques, friends and family; all merely memories. Finally he came across a memory of Jang, Kabal, and Yaku standing in front of a strange man.

_"You three will take up position in the forest outside of Konoha. Recruit a group of bandits and start raiding merchants travelling to and from the village. You will be responsible for helping cripple them financially." The man wearing the strange helmet and cape. "Do you understand your mission?"_

_ "Yes Jinki-sama." The three said in unison. The memory ended as Naruto took his hand from the mans forehead. _

"You okay?" Kakashi asked as he steadied the wobbly boy. Naruto shook his head and put his glove back on. "Did you find out the information.

"Yeah I got it." Naruto replied. "They were working for a man named Jinki." Kakashi's response never came as a group of four landed in the clearing sending them into combat stance.

"Stand down Kakashi." A feminine voice. Kakashi relaxed slightly as he recognized the voice.

"Ah Kurenai-san, to what do I owe the pleasure of the company of yourself and your cute little genin?" Kakashi asked. Naruto and the others relaxed as they recognized Kiba, Sai, and the ever shy Hinata standing behind their teacher. Kurenai took a scroll out and tossed it to the man. He opened it up and red it to himself; when he was finished he put it in a pocket. "And the Hokage thinks this is a good idea?"

"He seems to think so. He wants to show that our training regiment is effective and produces exceptional soldiers." She replied.

"What's going on Kakashi-sensei?" Sachiko asked.

"Alright squad seven, return to camp immediately and pack up." Kakashi ordered.

"Are we heading back to the village." The girl voiced her second question.

"No, Sairokku sent a report to the Hokage requesting backup with her reconnaissance mission that has encountered a hiccup. We are to accompany squad eight as the backup." Kakashi looked at Kurenai. "If you follow us to our camp we can get ready faster and get moving much more quickly." Kurenai nodded at the man. Kakashi pulled out a kunai and removed the head of the unconscious Jang sealing it away with Kabal's head and the remains of Yaku. He stared moving towards their camp followed closely by his squad and the trailing squad eight.

"Sensei, where are we going? What the hell is going on?" Sachiko asked exasperated.

"Like I said, a problem has reared its head in Sairokku's mission." Kakashi looked forward grimly. "A demon has risen in Wave Country."

A/N: And there is chapter nine. Finally got some action in and their first C-rank. Next chapter is the Wave arc. Hopefully, I can provide a sort of fresh take on it. After all, there is a four year gap between my Wave arc and the cannon one. I have provided English translations of the techniques used in this chapter. If I have missed one, please let me know and I will post in the next chapter.

Techniques-

Katon: Hono no Shawa/Fire Release: Flame Shower

Katon: Kasai Sutoraiku/Fire Release: Fire Strike

Katon: Hono no Hashira/ Fire Release: Flame Pillar

Doton: Kyoretsuna Ken/ Earth Release: Shattering Fist

Doton: Goremu no Ken/ Earth Release: Golem Fist

Raiton: Sonasupaku/ Lightning Release: Spark Sonar

Futon: Daitoppa/ Wind Release: Great Breakthrough

Futon: Reppusho/ Wind Release: Gale Palm

Mizu Bunshin/ Water Clone

Iwas Bunshin/ Rock Clone

Tsuchi Bunshin/ Earth Clone

Ken no Sutairu: Sonikkusurasshu/ Sword Style: Sonic Slash


End file.
